In
the 1970sand 1980s lindane was found in many crops throughout the
world as well as in honey and fish and shellfish. Levels of lindane being
consumed with food varies from year to year in nations where it has been
reported. Lindane concentrates in the fat of food animals and in milk and has
been reported in a number of countries in such commodities. More than 90% of
human intake of lindane originates from food. Monitoring studies have shown
that residues of lindane have been found in mother's milk. In several countries
lindane has also been identified in blood serum, fat and adipose tissue (IARC,
1987; WHO, 1991).
Veterinary use in sheep can cause contamination
of wool, as well of milk and meat.
Environmental Wool Science
Developments
Pesticides are used to keep sheep healthy but their residues can remain in the
fleece only to be released when the shorn wool is scoured - a process in which
dirt and grease are washed from the raw wool. In the past, the wastewater from
wool scouring containing these residues has added to contamination of rivers.
Although all scouring effluent is treated before discharge into rivers, traces
of "hard" pesticides entering rivers, such as lindane, exceeded
environmental quality standards.
Wool
Lindane is still used in sheep dips in some countries.3
Other sheep dip chemicals have been known to affect farmers and persist in sheep
meat.5 They are released into the environment when the fleece is washed.2
Chromium, which is toxic, may be used in some wool dyes.4
Lindane-treated canola is now banned from the United States.
However, American crushers can import canola that grew from lindane-treated
seed.
That's the way the industry hopes to keep the situation for
two to three years, until new chemicals to replace lindane are perfected, Van
Den Bussche said.
Lindane is used on most canola seed treatments to control flea
beetles. Van Den Bussche said his company and at least two others are developing
replacements for lindane, but those products will not be ready for two years.
They will likely be more expensive than lindane, which costs
$1 an acre, but most people believe the United States will eventually ban
lindane on all canola, Van Den Bussche said. Competition between new chemicals
should ensure farmers pay a fair price, even if it is higher, he said.
Used in baits & seed treatments for rodent control.
Application rates:
Range from
0.25 to 2.25 ounces/100 lb of seed for seed treatment;
0.1 to 2.06 lb/acre for foliar and soil treatment;
0.8 to 1.5 oz/50,000 cubic feet of greenhouse;
0.006 to 0.11 lb/gallon for bark;
0.023 to 3% sprays, dips, and dusts for indoor and animal treatment;
< 0.01 lb/1000 square feet for animal premises;
< 4 lb/1000 square feet (14.64% solutions) for wood, and wooden
structures;
and
1% dust for human skin/clothing treatment (military use only).
Insecticide used for control of a broad spectrum of phytophagous
and soil-inhabiting insects, public-health pests, and animal ectoparasites.
Used on a wide range of crops and in seed treatments.
4. Johnson, W. C., III.
Cotton-peanut rotation carries disease risks. Southeast
Farm Press (December 19, 1984). (Popular Publication)
PEANUT-COTTON-RYE ROTATIONS AND
CHEMICAL SOIL TREATMENT FOR MANAGING NEMATODES AND THRIPS. JOHNSON ALVA W
MINTON N A
BRENNEMAN T B
TODD J W
HERZOG G A
GASCHO G J
BAKER S H
BONDARI K Interpretive Summary: Nematodes are major pests on many agronomic crops. Sustainable systems
are needed to manage nemaotdes in crop production. The objective of this
experiment was to determine the value of cotton-peanut rotations, rye, and soil
chemical treatments on management of nematodes, thrips, and soilborne diseases
and crop yield. In a 7-year rotation scheme, peanut in rotation with cotton was
used to suppress population densities of root-knot and sting nematodes on
cotton. Yields of cotton and peanut in cotton-peanut rotations were 26% and 10%
greater, respectively, than those from monoculture over the entire study. Cotton
and peanut yields were increased 9% and 4%, respectively, following rye vs.
fallow. Soil chemical treatments increased yields of cotton 23% and peanut 32%
over those of untreated plots. Our data demonstrated the sustainable benefits of
using cotton-peanut rotations, winter rye, and soil chemical treatments to
manage plant-parasitic nematodes and other pests and improve yield of both
cotton and peanut. A cotton-peanut rotation is attractive at this time, because
of the high value and extensive planting of both crops in the southeastern
coastal plain. Keywords: nematodes vegetable crops peanut arachis hypogaea groundnut root knot
nematodes meloidogyne incognita meloidogyne arenaria meloidogyne javanica crop
rotation tillage methods intensive cropping cropping systems Contact: GA COASTAL PLAIN EXPT. ST
P. O. BOX 748
TIFTON
GA 31793
FAX: (912)386-3437
Email: nemweeds@tifton.cpes.peachnet.edu Approved Date: 1997-08-31
TEKTRAN
United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
Updated: 1998-12-18
Lindane (Gamma-HCH) A contact, ingested, and
fumigant organochlorine insecticide, used on many crops including sugar beet and
oil seed rape. Also used as a timber treatment, and in the home, for head lice. (now
banned for head lice in the UK) UNECE POP = P + B + T
A 1998 survey found lindane in 75% of samples ofchocolatewith a high cocoa
butter content. Also found in 1998 samples of cereal grains, and mushrooms and
in earlier surveys in fish, meat, butter, cheese, flour, bread and some
vegetables, such as onions. Has also been found in cow’s milk in the UK,
although not detected in the latest survey in 1998. Still detected in some UK
breast milk samples.
cedar, pine,
sweetgum, oak, fruit trees, vines, lawns, roses, shrubs
Lindane is an organochlorine insecticide and fumigant that has been used on a
wide range of soil-dwelling and plant-eating insects.4 Lindane is not
produced or manufactured in Canada. It is registered for use in Canada as a
broad-spectrum insecticide and acaracide. Currently, there are 44 registered
products in Canada. Trade names for lindane are Premiere Plus, Vitavax RS
Flowable, Vitavax RS Dynaseal, Cloak, and Foundation. Inquinosa and
Rhone-Poulenc are two European-based producers of lindane. 5
Lindane was first registered for use in Canada in 1938. Over the life of
lindane, 504 lindane-containing products have been registered. Currently, 29
lindane-containing commercial products are registered. Lindane’s primary use
in Canada is to treat canola seed for flea beetles. 6 It is also used
against ectoparasites (scabies and head lice) on animals and humans. At this
time, Health Canada’s on-line database lists seven different products for
therapeutic use (shampoo and lotions) that contain 1 percent lindane. 7
Global use of lindane is estimated to be 720,000 tonnes, with Canada being
the sixth largest global user of lindane (gamma-HCH). Additionally, it is
estimated that 55,000 tonnes of technical HCH are used worldwide. 8
Benzene Hexachloride (BHC) is the 100% pure form of the
product while lindane is slightly less pure (>99% pure). Lindane is highly
toxic and carries the signal word WARNING. It is a central nervous system
stimulant with symptoms usually developing within one hour. Symptoms of acute
exposure in humans can include mental and motor retardation, central nervous
system excitation, clonic (intermittent) and tonic (continuous) convulsions,
respiratory failure, pulmonary edema and dermatitis. Other symptoms in humans
are more behavioral in nature such as loss of balance and somersaulting,
grinding of the teeth, and hyper-irritability. Lindane was found to be slightly
estrogenic to female rats and also caused the seminiferous tubules in male rats
to become atrophied at doses of 8 mg/kg/day over a ten day period. These tests
suggest that the compound may have reproductive effects in human populations.
One of the confounding factors in establishing a link between the insecticide
and carcinogenicity is the presence of three different dimensional forms
(isomers) of the compound BHC. Each form has a slightly different toxicity. The International
Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that there is sufficient
evidence to show that one of the lindane isomers is carcinogenic and limited
evidence to establish the carcinogenicity of the beta and gamma isomers. Lindane
is a regular contaminant of third-world tobacco, and has been found in US
commercial supplies as well as in tobacco shipments rejected by European
authorities - which of course wind up being made into tobacco products somewhere
else in the world.
As members of the public and as workers, we
encounter Lindane in a number of forms. It can be odourless and colourless. It
can be a solid, a white powder, a liquid or in the smoke-bomb fumigator variety.
It is used in soil treatment against insect pests. It is used in the production
of animal feeds. It is widely used in sugar beet production areas.
Often, lofts are sprayed with lindane as a
condition of mortgages. We go into pubs, schools, homes or any other variety of
buildings which might have been sprayed recently with lindane or comparable
chemicals. We would not know that we were so exposed.
We absorb lindane by breathing the gas and vapours.
It goes straight into the lungs and into the bloodstream. Fine dust can follow
the same route. Larger particles are trapped in the nasal passages or the mucus
escalator of the bronchial tubes. It is not necessary to have direct contact
with the chemical. It can be swallowed because food and water can be
contaminated directly by exposure to lindane. Lindane can be absorbed into the
air. It mixes with food and water.
HCH is not produced in the U.S. but is imported for use as a formulation
component. HCH is used as an insecticide on fruit and vegetable crops,
ornamentals, tobacco, greenhouse vegetables, and forestry (including Christmas
tree treatment). It is also used in homes (e.g., for dog dips, house sprays, and
shelf paper), commercial food or feed storage areas and containers, farms, and
wood and wood structure sites. HCH is used medically in lotions, creams, and
shampoos for the treatment of lice and scabies. A Notice of Intent to Cancel
Pesticide Products Containing -HCH was issued by EPA in October 1983 and
prohibited the use of -HCH for purposes involving direct aquatic application; it
also restricted certain applications on livestock, structures, and domestic
pets. In November 1993, EPA issued a Notice of Receipt of a Request for
Amendments to Delete Uses for lindane, 99.5% technical HCH, and dust
concentrate, to delete from the pesticide label most uses of lindane for
agricultural crops and applications on animals and humans.
Lindane is used in Canada as an insecticide to preserve seeds and prevent the
proliferation of insects in greenhouses and hog barns.
Lindane is a regular contaminant of third-world
tobacco, and has been found in US commercial supplies as well as in tobacco
shipments rejected by European authorities - which of course wind up being made
into tobacco products somewhere else in the world.
Lindane is an insecticide used on various crops and livestock. When in the
vapor phase, lindane can be a harmful irritant to eyes, nose, and throat. When
released into a water source, significant volatilization is not expected to
occur; its volatilization half-life in water is between 115 to 191 days.
Hydrolysis may occur, however, if the water has a basic pH. Dioxin-discussed
previously-contains electronegative O and Cl atoms, it will tend to
"collect" hydrogen ions, increasing the pH and leaving a water with a
more basic pH. Since dioxin was found as a co-contaminant to lindane, the
resulting basic water would have caused the lindane to undergo significant
hydrolysis. Transport from water to soil is mainly through the process of
diffusion rather than by particle transport.
If lindane is released as a soil contaminant, the most likely result will be
volatilization, with lower effects in extremely dry soil. Biodegradation may
also be significant.
If released directly to the atmosphere, lindane will react with the hydroxyl
radicals present in a matter of days-more rapidly than dioxin. Residence time in
the atmosphere before removal by rain or dry deposition is approximately 17
weeks.