The Endosulfan, an insecticide SHAIK MOHAMMED ANSA ZAIBA IX Class, Emmaus-Swiss Referral Hospital High School, Palamaner, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, Pin- 517408, email: mansazaiba@yahoo. in, riazmahamood@gmail. com Ever increasing food demands due to population explosion and increased consumption of food made the extensive use of pesticides like Endosulfan, DDT, Lindane, and Carbufuran etc to increase crop yield in modern practices of agriculture.
The extensive use of pesticides on one hand improved the agricultural productivity many folds, but on the other hand, they are posing a severe thereat to the ecology and environment with widespread pollution. Pesticide pollution from various sources such as discharges from pesticide industry, agricultural runoff, municipal wastes, and from other nonpoint sources and contamination of natural water bodies by various pesticides has been very well documented by various researchers. Pesticides applied in various modes and places take different pathways to reach natural water bodies such as seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, etc. nd lead to their contamination. Technical Endosulfan C9H6Cl6O3S is a chlorinated cyclodiene insecticide and is a brown crystalline substance with ? and ? isomers in the ratio of 70:30. Endosulfan (ES) is a contact and stomach poison used to control insects like Colorado potato beetle, flea beetle, cabbageworm, peach tree borer, tarnished plant bug and also to control pests on fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco, paddy and cotton. Residues of endosulfan and its intermediates were found in air, surface and ground water, soil, food, plants, animals and the human in India and other parts of the world.
The persistence and distribution of endosulfan in soil, run-off water and underground water is observed in Thrivullur district of India, Haryana, India. The endosulfan concentration was found but significantly less in the finished water supplies in most of the treatment plants in Delhi. Endosulfan and other Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) residues are observed in the fish from the Gomti River, India. Initial residues of ? and ? – Endosulfan and endosulfan sulfate is observed in Bengal gram (Cicer arientinum). Bovine milk, Maternal and Cord Blood in North Indian
Population were contaminated with residues of Endosulfan and other OCPs. It has been reported with a range of acute and chronic effects, including cancer and impacts on hormonal systems in the human and animal. Endosulfan may be entered into human body with swallowing, absorption though skin, ingestion or breathing. Endosulfan (ES) is highly toxic, death occurred within a few hours of ingestion or breathing of high levels of it. ES primarily targets central nervous system, liver and kidney. ES is a endocrine disruptor and affects reproductive system, delay sexual maturity and interfere with sex hormone synthesis.
Persons suffering from asthmatic, convulsive disorders and protein deficient diet are at high risk. Endosulfan is extremely toxic to wildlife and acutely toxic to bees, birds, mallard ducks, quails and pheasants. It is particularly highly toxic to fishes. It is also highly toxic to the frogs, toads, annelids, snails, aquatic insects, molluscs, cat and dogs. Root growth inhibition, stunting, burning of tips and margins of leaves and affected root permeability due to ES on plants have been reported. References [1] Usha S. and Harikrishnan V. R. “Endosulfan – Fact sheet and Answer to Common Questions”, IPEN Pesticide Working Group Project 2004. [2] WHO, 1984. Endosulfan. International Programme on Chemical Safety, Environmental Health Criteria 40, Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1-62. [3] National Registration Authority (NRA) for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals, Existing Chemicals Review Programme (ECRP), Commonwealth of Australia, 1998 [4] Department of Pesticide Regulation, “Endosulfan – Risk Characterization Document” California Environmental Protection Agency, May 2007 [5] P.
C. Abhilash, Nandita Singh, (Review) “Pesticide use and application: An Indian scenario”, Journal of Hazardous Materials (2008), [6] R. Jayashree. N. Vasudevan, “Persistence and Distribution of Endosulfan under Field Condition”, Environ Monit Assess (2007) 131: 475-487 [7] R. Jayashree. N. Vasudevan, “Organochlorine pesticide residues in ground water of Thiruvallu district, India”, Environ Monit Assess (2007) 128: 209-215 [8] M. Zhou, Y. C. Li, P. Nkedi-Kizza, and S. K.
O’Hair, “Endosulfan Losses though Runoff and Leaching from Calcareous Gravelly or Marl Soils”, Vadose Zone Journal 2: 231-238 (2003). [9] Beena Kumari. V. K. Madan. T. S. Kathpal, “Status of insecticide contamination of soil and water in Haryana, India”, Environ Monit Assess (2008) 136: 239-244 [10] Neeta Thaker. Jagadish Bassin. Vijaya Deshpande. Sukumar Devotta, “Trends of organochlorine pesticides in drinking water supplies”, Environ Monit Assess (2008) 137: 295-299 [11] Amrita Malik. Kunwar P. Singh.
Priyanka Ojha, “Residues of Organochlorine Pesticides in Fish from the Gomti River, India”, Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2007) 78: 335-340 [12] Amith Ghosh Chowdary. Chaitali Das. Ramen Kumar Kole. Hemanta Banerjee. Anjan Bhattacharya, “Residual fate and persistence of endosulfan (50 WDG) in Bengal gram ( Cicer arientinum)”, Environ Monit Assess (2007) 132: 467-473. [13] Subir K. Nag. Mukesh K. Raikwar, “Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Bovine Milk”, Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2008) 80: 5-9. [14] Rahul Pathak. Sanvidhan G.
Suke. Rafat S. Ahmed. A. K. Tripathi. Kiran Guleria. C. S. Sharma. S. D. Makhijani. Meenu Mishra. B. D. Banerjee, “Endosulfan and Other Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Maternal and Cord Blood in North Indian Population”, Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2008) 81: 216-219. [15] Md. Wasim Aktar. M. Paramasivam. Daipayan Sengupta. Swarnali Purkait. Madhumita Ganguly. S. Banerjee, “Impact assessment of pesticide residues in fish of Ganga River around Kolkata in West Bengal”, Environ Monit Assess (2008) DOI 10. 1007/s10661-008-0518-9
