Lindane is an insecticide, also known as gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and benzene hexachloride (BHC). It has an LD50 of 88 mg/kg, is suspected of being a carcinogen and is banned in the U.S. state of California and in 52 countries. There is also a bill in the New York State Assembly and Senate to ban the use of lindane for headlice and limit its use on scabies.

Its method of action is via interfering with the GABAa receptor/Cl- channel. It is volatile with roughly 90% entering the atmosphere and ultimately being deposited in rain. In 1992 5.5 mg/L of lindane was detected in rain in Oxfordshire. It is still widely used in most of Europe and nearly all developing countries. Mexico is the next of many nations who is banning lindane.

Like other agricultural pesticides, lindane is very easily introduced into the water and food supply of an area through rainfall; this can lead to low-level lindane poisoning amongst the local community. A chief symptom of this is a tic causing occasional flickering of the eyelid; other than this minor discomfort, such levels of poisoning are not harmful. Lindane has caused seizures, blood disorders, brain cancer in children, and is linked to both breast cancer and Parkinson's disease. Lindane is no longer manufactured in the US, but is sold as a pharmaceutical by Alliant.

It is sold in a one-percent formulation as Kwell shampoo and lotion (among other brand names, also generically), used to treat human scabies infection, head lice and other ectoparasites. It has recently been banned for the treatment of head lice in California. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration requires these products be labeled with prominent warnings about possible neurotoxicity, particularly in young patients. Even though the FDA has blackboxed lindane, it is still being prescribed for children and the elderly, whose skin is more permeable and vulnerable to its toxic effects. Medicaid, Medicare, and many state-funded health care systems still have lindane on their formularies, when there are many safer and more effective treatments available.

The International HCH and Pesticides Association (IHPA) was founded in July 1998 with the aim of facilitating and promoting international co-operation and the exchange of experiences within management of pollution problems stemming from the production and use of HCH and other unwanted pesticides worldwide. Since September 2002, the IHPA has been officially registered as a Foundation in The Netherlands.

The IHPA supports the work towards sustainable solutions in production and application of pesticides and promotes international co-operation of all parties involved in the field of pesticides.

External links

• Lindane for human use
• International HCH and Pesticides Association

Organochloride insecticides

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