Wockhardt pharmaceuticals has decided to discontinue its product known as Lindane Shampoo regulated by the FDA. This decision to discontinue lindane shampoo is long in coming but a critical step to end exposures to a known neurotoxic and carcinogenic pesticide treatment prescribed for children with lice. The NPA first petitioned the FDA against the use of lindane for lice (and scabies) in 1983 and continued its activism to this day. Details on what was scientifically known about this chemical were included again with the NPA’s Lindane Project and its 2010 petition . The Environmental Protection Agency cancelled registrations of lindane in 2006. Lindane was designated as a persistent organic pollutant and one of the toxic chemicals listed in the Dirty Dozen by the …
2020 Sitapur gas leak: Deaths due to inhaling toxic fumes from insecticide Lindane, says report
Two years after seven people, including three children, died in Sitapur in February 2020 after allegedly inhaling poisonous gas leaking from a chemical factory, a field epidemiological investigation has confirmed the cause of deaths due to inhaling fumes from a chemical named Lindane that is generally used as agricultural insecticide. According to the epidemiological investigation jointly conducted by ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, department of health and family welfare, UP and CSIR-IITR, Lucknow the cause of death was due to asphyxia following the leakage of toxic fumes from Lindane that was stored in the chemical factory.From Hindustan Times: …
Keep kids with lice at home
Oklahoma lawmakers have been known to conduct themselves in curious ways, but a bill passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives left us scratching our heads. If senators fail to kill House Bill 3159, which would allow students infected with head lice to continue attending class, that itch — like head lice — will spread quickly. The only way to prevent head lice from spreading is to treat the host, killing the lice and nits. If senators fail to kill House Bill 3159, which would allow students infected with head lice to continue attending class, that itch — like head lice — will spread quickly. The only way to prevent head lice from spreading is to treat the host, killing the lice and nits. See full article. 3/25/02. Muskogee Phoenix. …
European cooperation to tackle the legacies of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and lindane
Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) waste isomers from lindane production are the largest single POPs legacy, with an estimated 4.8 to 7.4 million tonnes of disposed waste. The largest part of this waste – 1.8 to 3 million tonnes – was disposed in Europe, where most producers were located. This paper provides a short overview of projects supported by the European Union (EU) to address this waste legacy and to implement the Stockholm Convention for this group of POPs with associated protection of soil, ecosystems and human health. We report here particularly on the results of a project financed by the EU called the “HCH in EU project”, which aimed to develop a systematic inventory of sites where HCH was handled and potentially resulted in contamination. The compiled information provide guidance for …
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Reflections, Part Two: Kids, pesticides & science
"Being a parent has shaped my 25 years at PAN in fundamental ways. My first several years with the organization I was part of a job-share with another young mom, tag-teaming our organizing efforts to win a global ban of the fumigant pesticide methyl bromide. The more I learned about this dangerous chemical, the more protective I felt of our infant daughter Linnea — and the more horrified I was about the millions of children around the world who are regularly exposed to this and other pesticides. In 1999 our son Connor was born. After my maternity leave I dove into work on the Stockholm Convention, an international treaty that targets persistent organic pollutants for global phaseout. These chemicals travel the globe and biomagnify up the food chain, building up in the fatty tissues of our …
Reflections, Part One: Pesticide industry’s playbook
As I look back on two and a half decades of work with PAN, I see one very clear through-line: aggressive industry efforts, year after year, to block any and all initiatives that threaten their bottom line. These efforts look different in different arenas, but the playbook is the same: cozy up to those with decision-making power, intimidate activists pressing for change, and throw money (lots!) at controlling the story. Oh — and regularly consolidate/rebrand your way out of trouble too. When I first started with PAN in 1996, I joined our global campaign to phase out methyl bromide under the Montreal Protocol, a global treaty to control ozone-depleting chemicals. A broad-spectrum biocide, methyl bromide is also a potent ozone depleter that was being targeted for a global ban. Read entire …
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Nits on ancient mummies shed light on South American ancestry
Human DNA can be extracted from the ‘cement’ head lice used to glue their eggs to hairs thousands of years ago, scientists have found, which could provide an important new window into the past. In a new study, scientists for the first time recovered DNA from cement on hairs taken from mummified remains that date back 1,500-2,000 years. This is possible because skin cells from the scalp become encased in the cement produced by female lice as they attach eggs, known as nits, to the hair.EurekAlert: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/938695 …
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Women in Agricultural Work at Increased Risk for Skin and Blood Cancers from Pesticide Exposure
A past report demonstrates an association between cancer and pesticides such as 2,4-D, glyphosate, lindane, and DDT.A study published in Environment International finds higher rates of various cancers among agricultural workers, with multiple myeloma (blood cancer) and melanoma (skin cancer) disproportionately impacting female farmers. Although research studies link cancer risk to genetic and external factors (e.g., cigarette smoke), there is increasing evidence that pesticide exposure augments the risk of developing common cancers like melanoma and less common cancers like multiple myeloma. This study highlights the importance of understanding how pesticide use can increase the risk of latent diseases, which do not immediately develop upon initial exposure. From: Beyond Pesticides, …
September is National Head Lice Prevention Month
"Even with the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, parents, schools and child care administrators need to be prepared to control head lice." NEWTON, Mass. (PRWEB) August 27, 2021. National Pediculosis Prevention Month was first designated in 1985 via H.J. Res. 223. This will be the 36th consecutive year that the nonprofit National Pediculosis Association (NPA), has sponsored its campaign to inform communities about the importance of routine screening, early detection and the safest possible approach to managing pediculosis, known medically as head lice. https://www.headlice.org/comb/pediculosis-prevention-resolution-submitted-to-congress/ NPA's president Deborah Altschuler says that head lice prevention remains important during the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents, …