19 May 2022 Endosulfan Pesticide
Endosulfan Pesticide- Today Current Affairs
- Supreme Court has slammed the Kerala government for not taking appropriate steps to treat the victims affected by Endosulfan Pesticide.
- The court said the state’s inaction is “horrendous” and in violation of the apex court’s 2017 judgment that ordered the state to pay Rs 5 lakh to the victims in three months.
- The court found five years after the verdict that only eight of the 3,704 victims had been compensated.
- The Supreme Court in 2015 banned the manufacture, sale, use and export of Endosulfan across the country citing its harmful health effects.
Today Current Affairs
Endosulfan:
- Endosulfan is an organochlorine insecticide that was first introduced in the 1950s and is commonly known by its commercial name, Thiodon.
- It is related to many serious medical conditions, such as neurotoxicity, physical deformity, poisoning etc.
- It is sprayed on crops like cotton, cashew, fruit, tea, paddy, tobacco to control pests like white fly, aphids, beetles, insects etc.
- Endosulfan is listed on prior informed consent under both the Rotterdam Convention and the Stockholm Convention on Sustainable Organic Pollutants.
Effects of Endosulfan:
Environmental effect : The Hindu Analysis
- Endosulfan in the environment is absorbed into food chains, causing widespread problems.
- If endosulfan is released into water, it can be absorbed into the sediment and affect aquatic organisms.
Humans and Animals : The Hindu Analysis
- Ingestion of endosulfan can result in physical deformities, cancer, birth defects, and diseases of the brain and nervous system.
Rotterdam Convention 1998 : The Hindu Analysis
- The objective of this convention is to promote cooperation and responsibility-sharing measures between countries to deal with the trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
- Prior Informed Consent (PIC) is a key feature of this Convention and is legally binding on the members of the Party.
- PIC facilitates the exchange of information relating to the nature and trade between the members of the parties.
- This Convention creates an obligation to implement the prior informed consent process.
Stockholm Convention 2001 : The Hindu Analysis
- The objective of this convention is to reduce the concentration of persistent organic pollutants (PoPs) which are chemical substances and not only remain in the atmosphere for a long time but also have the potential to bioaccumulate.
- The convention has listed 12 PoPs as the ‘Dirty Dozen’.
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