Danish researchers are calling for national
monitoring of lindane after traces of the chemical, banned in Denmark, were
found in remote locations. An investigation by the Danish Office for the
Environment has established that airborne lindane is being deposited in the
south and west of the country.
The most likely source of lindane is Germany. Germany
continues to allow lindane use on fodder root crops and sugar beet. Pesticide
Action Network (PAN) Germany cite examples whereby NGOs have called for a
worldwide ban on the use and production of lindane. One reason for this has
been the suspected connection between exposure to lindane and cancer, as
outlined by animals experiments. So far these findings have not been
conclusive enough for the German government, or the European Union, to
consider imposing a ban. Epidemiological research has been strong enough to
convince the authorities that there is ‘reasonable doubt’ about the safety
of lindane. The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Franz Fischler, said in
reply to a parliamentary question from the British MEP Susan Waddington, that
epidemiological studies had not provided a ‘clear-cut causal connection’.
Susan Waddington had cited concern raised by doctors who had noticed an
increased number of brain tumour cases and other forms of cancer in rural
districts, which could be related to lindane.
In Denmark such concern has already led to a ban on the use
of lindane. Because of the trans-boundary transportation of lindane, Denmark
will almost certainly make a stand for a comprehensive international ban,
according to PAN Germany.
Pestizid Brief, PAN Germany, 2/96.
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 32, June 1996, page 14]