| Large-scale production and utilisation of pesticides has been the underlying feature of the world’s increased agricultural output and India’s green revolution. Amongst the many pesticides used, endosulfan, a cyclodiene compound has been widely used in the recent years as a broad-spectrum insecticide for crop protection as well as an acaricide. Endosulfan consists of two isomers, the alpha-isomer (α-isomer) and the beta-isomer (β-isomer) in the 7:3 ratio. Technical grade endosulfan consists of 94% active ingredient. Endosulfan has been extensively used to protect crops like cotton, paddy, cashew, tea, coffee as well as vegetables and fruits. Additionally it has also been used for home gardening and wood preservation. Endosulfan works as a potent stomach and contact poison against numerous and a wide variety of pests such as potato beetle, flee beetle and several species of aphid and leafhopper. Extensive use of endosulfan has been reported in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the EU and North America and even Australia. Endosulfan is also widely used in India especially after the call for restricted use of DDT (Naina, 2000) with consumption values of 3599 metric tonnes per annum being cited (Usha and Harikrishnan, 2005). Germany, China, Israel and South Korea have been cited as producers of endosulfan apart from India (Hermann, 2003). India is the largest producer of endosulfan in the world according to Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India (PMFAI) (Newton, 2003). Endosulfan is a persistent organic pollutant and is estimated to have a half life between 9 months to 6 years (PAN-UK News Release, 2001). The extensive and excessive use of endosulfan has resulted in widespread residual contamination in the environment. Endosulfan residues have been observed in soil, sediments, surface and ground waters as well as food stuffs apart from plant foliage. Between 1 to 10 ppm residual concentrations of endosulfan have been observed in several places around the world (Leung et al., 1998). In India soil residual concentrations have been reported in the ranges of 0.8–6.3 ppm. On the other hand residual concentrations in surface waters include 0.024 ppm (Jayashree and Vasudevan, 2007). Endosulfan residues have also been detected in human blood, milk, urine and tissues. Manufacture of endosulfan can also lead to residues in air borne and soil borne residues. |
