Archived press release

Top stores ban lindane

13 January 2000

Government pesticide advisors, meeting next month, are under mounting pressure to recommend a total ban on lindane after a number of top companies said they would stop selling the dangerous insecticide in their stores.

Over the last few weeks Robert Dyas, Homebase, Wilkinson, B&Q and Boots have all told the Ban Lindane Campaign - which includes Friends of the Earth, Green Network, the Pesticides Trust,the Soil Association, UNISON, Breast UK and the Women's Environmental Network - that they will stop selling lindane-based products.

The Advisory Committee on Pesticides [1], which is scheduled to meet next month, will consider the mounting evidence against lindane. The insecticide has been linked to breast cancer [2] and can disrupt hormone systems, damage the nervous and immune systems and cause birth defects. A call for a total ban on lindane in a European Union report [3] in1998 has so far been largely ignored by the Government. According to the report, lindane is a Class 3 carcinogenic [4] substance for which there is no safe exposure level.

Despite being outlawed in 18 countries - including Denmark, Germany, Holland, and Sweden -lindane is still widely used in the UK where it is regularly sprayed on fields [5] and is present in a number of household products including ant killer and flea treatment.

The Campaign to Ban Lindane is calling on:
* the Government to impose an immediate ban on lindane and lindane-based products;
* all retailers to remove lindane-based products without waiting for a Government decision.

Jill Day of UNISON's Campaign to Ban Lindane said:
"We are delighted that major retailers are taking responsible action to stop selling lindane-based products because of concerns about the health-impact of this dangerous chemical. All retailers and manufactures should follow their lead and stop stocking products containing lindane immediately"

S andra Bell, Pesticide Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said
"Despite the fact that an EU report recommended a total ban on lindane because of fears over its impacts on health over one year ago, this product is still commonly used in the UK. It's about time the Government gave the British public the same protection as consumers have in other countries by completely banning lindane now"

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The Advisory Committee on Pesticides is due to meet next month to consider information relating to the domestic use of products containing lindane. The Committee will then make a recommendation to the Government. The Committee were originally due to meet on 13 January 2000.

[2] Several studies have suggested a link between lindane and breast cancer - contact the Pesticides Trust for details.

[3] Report for the EU by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, December 1998. The report found that it was not possible to set a safe level of exposure for lindane and recommended a total ban. Faced with this information, the UK. Government decided to ban the use of lindane for seed treatment because of the dangers for workers, but did not ban its use on crops in the UK or in domestic products.

[4] Class 3 relates to chemicals that have been identified as possible human carcinogens, but for which there is currently insufficient data to identify a conclusive link.

[5] Lindane is used widely in UK farming, including on apples and in grain stores. Calculations based on recent MAFF pesticide usage surveys show that over 41 tones of lindane have been applied to farm crops over a year.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust