Endosulfan by region

Endosulfan by region

                                  India

                           
IIn 2001, in Kerala, India, endosulfan spraying became suspect when linked to a series of abnormalities noted in local children. Initially endosulfan was banned, yet under pressure from the pesticide industry this ban was largely revoked. The situation there has been called "next in magnitude only to the Bhopal gas tragedy." In 2006, in Kerala, compensation of Rs 50,000 was paid to the next kin of each of 135 people who were identified as having died as a result of endosulfan use. Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan also gave an assurance to people affected by poisoning, "that the government would chalk out a plan to take care of treatment, food and other needs of the affected persons and that its promise of rehabilitation of victims would be honoured."

Many Social activists and organisations have been active in providing rehabilitation for the victims of poisoning. They are demanding the banning of Endosulphan in India.India is strongly opposed to adding endosulfan to the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.
National Institute of Occupational Health (NOIH) study report titled “Report Of The Investigation Of Unusual Illness” commissioned to understand the implications of endosulfan usage may not be accurate as suggested in The Economic Times news report ^.
 

                            New Zealand

Endosulfan was banned in New Zealand by the Environmental Risk Management Authority effective January 2009 after a concerted campaign by environmental groups and the Green Party.

                             Philippines

 
A shipment of about 10 tonnes of endosulfan was illegally stowed on the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars, a ferry that sank off the waters of Romblon (Sibuyan Island), Philippines during a storm in June 2008. Search, rescue, and salvage efforts were suspended when the endosulfan shipment was discovered, and blood samples from divers at the scene were sent to Malaysia for analysis. The Department of Health of the Philippines has temporarily banned the consumption of fish caught in the area. Endosulfan is classified as a "Severe Marine Pollutant" by the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code.

                         United States

                   Endosulfan use in the US in pounds per square mile by county in 2002.

In the United States, endosulfan is only registered for agricultural use, and these uses are being phased out.The pesticide is sold under the names Thionex 50W and Thionex 3EC. The companies registered to sell endousulfan in the U.S. are Makhteshim Agan, Drexel, and until recently Bayer CropScience. It has been used extensively on cotton, potatoes, tomatoes, and apples according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA estimates that 1.38 million lb of endosulfan were used annually from 1987 to 1997. In California, annual use of endosulfan dropped from 230,000 lb (104 t) in 1995 to just 83,000 lb (38 t) in 2005. The US exported more than 300,000 lbs of endosulfan from 2001–2003, mostly to Latin America, but production and export has since stopped.
In California, endosulfan contamination from the San Joaquin Valley has been implicated in the extirpation of the mountain yellow-legged frog from parts of the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains. In Florida, levels of contamination the Everglades and Biscayne Bay are high enough to pose a threat to some aquatic organisms.
In 2007, the EPA announced it was rereviewing the safety of endosulfan. The following year, Pesticide Action Network and NRDC petitioned the EPA to ban endosulfan, and a coalition of environmental and labor groups sued the EPA seeking to overturn its 2002 decision to not ban endosulfan. In June 2010, the EPA announced it was negotiating a phaseout of all uses with the sole U.S. manufacturer, Makhteshim Agan and a complete ban on the compound.

 

                          Australia

Australia banned endosulfan October 12, 2010. The ban included a two year phase-out for stock of five endosulfan containing products.
Australia had, in 2008, announced endosulfan would not be banned. Citing New Zealand's ban, the Australian Greens called for "zero tolerance" of endosulfan residue on food.Endosulfan contamination from nearby farm(s) is suspected to have caused a spate of two-headed fish at a fish farm in the Noosa River.

                          Taiwan
US apples with endosulfan are now allowed to be exported to Taiwan although the ROC government denied any U.S. pressure on it.