Open letter to Stephen Johnson, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: ban endosulfan.

摘要

Endosulfan is a persistent, bioaccu-mulative, highly toxic pesticide that is found in all environmental compartments and in multiple human tissues. Although the European Union and 20 other countries have already banned endosulfan for these reasons, it is still used extensively in the U.S.About 1.4 million pounds of this chemical are used annually in the U.S.1 Endosulfan runs off agricultural fields in sediment and contaminates water bodies, where it begins to bioaccumulate in the food chain. Endosulfan and its major degradate are persistent and toxic, and can remain as hazardous waste in the environment for years or even decades after the pesticide is applied.2 Endosulfan demonstrates environmental fate and ecological effects similar to its chemical cousins, the cyclodieneJike pesticides, that have been either cancelled (toxaphene, mirex, kepone, dieldrin, aldrin, chlordane) or severely restricted (heptachlor) due to their hazardous nature.