Important Facts For Prelims
Endosulfan
- 18 May 2022
- 3 min read
Why in News?
The Supreme Court has slammed the Kerala government for doing “virtually nothing” for Endosulfan pesticide exposure victims.
- The court said the State’s inaction was “appalling” and amounted to a breach of the apex court’s 2017 judgment, which had ordered the State to pay Rs 5 lakh each to the victims in three months.
- Five years since the judgment, the court has realised that only eight out of 3,704 victims have been paid compensation.
- The SC has banned the manufacture, sale, use, and export of endosulfan throughout the country, citing its harmful health effects in 2015.
What is Endosulfan?
- Endosulfan is an organochlorine insecticide which was first introduced in the 1950s and is commonly known by its trade name Thiodan.
- It is linked to a slew of grave medical conditions, such as neurotoxicity, physical deformities, poisoning and more.
- It is sprayed on crops like cotton, cashew, fruits, tea, paddy, tobacco etc. for control of pests such as whiteflies, aphids, beetles, worms etc.
- Endosulfan is listed under both the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
What are the Impacts of Endosulfan?
- Environment:
- Endosulfan in the environment gets accumulated in food chains leading to higher doses causing problems.
- If Endosulfan is released to water, it is expected to absorb to the sediment and may bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms.
- Humans And Animals:
- The endosulfan ingestion results in diseases ranging from physical deformities, cancer, birth disorders and damage to the brain and nervous system.
What is the Rotterdam convention 1998?
- The convention aims to promote cooperation and responsibility sharing measures amongst different countries dealing with trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
- PIC, Prior Informed Consent is the main feature of the convention and is legally binding on the party members.
- PIC facilitates information exchange about nature and trade-related information amongst the party members.
- The Convention creates obligations for the implementation of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure.
What is Stockholm convention 2001?
- The convention aims to reduce the concentration of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which are chemical substances that not only remain in the atmosphere for longer periods but also possess the ability to bio-accumulate.
- The convention listed 12 POPs as ‘dirty dozen’.
