Why is parathion banned in most countries?
It is highly toxic to non-target organisms, including humans, so its use has been banned or restricted in most countries. The basic structure is shared by parathion methyl. Parathion was developed by Gerhard Schrader for the German trust IG Farben in the 1940s.
Should methyl parathion be banned in foods consumed by children?
In January 1998, the Environmental Working Group called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the insecticide methyl parathion in all foods consumed by children. We supported our recommendation with a detailed analysis of dietary risk of organophosphate exposure for children aged five and under.
Is parathion still used in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, the substance is no longer approved as a pesticide. Pure parathion is a white crystalline solid. It is commonly distributed as a brown liquid that smells of rotting eggs or garlic. The insecticide is somewhat stable, although it darkens when exposed to sunlight.
Does parathion occur naturally in the environment?
Parathion does not occur naturally in the environment. Parathion is the common name of an organophosphorus insecticide formerly used in the United States and is still available in some other countries for the control of sucking and chewing insects and mites in a wide variety of crops.
Is parathion still used in the US?
Methyl parathion is not registered for residential use in the United States. Ethyl parathion, first registered in 1948, was once a restricted-use insecticide with limited applications on certain agricultural crops, but by 2003, all registered uses were voluntarily cancelled (U.S.EPA, 2000).
What pesticide is banned in the US?
chlorpyrifosAn Earthjustice lawsuit led to the ban on all food uses of chlorpyrifos. If the EPA cannot ensure that a pesticide won't harm children, the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act requires the EPA to ban uses of the pesticide on food.
Is methyl parathion banned in US?
After evidence of MP metabolites from urine samples confirmed the exposure, in 1998 the indoor use of MP was banned in the U.S. to protect human health, especially that of children, and the environment. Toxic exposures to MP also occurred in developing countries.
Is malathion still legal?
Malathion is used in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
What chemicals have been banned in the US?
Most of them have really long chemical names, so we've also included what they were used for and how they can be toxic.Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) PCB contamination warning signs surround Silver Lake in Pittsfield, Mass. ... Fully Halogenated Chlorofluoroalkanes. ... Dioxin. ... Asbestos. ... Hexavalent Chromium.
Why was malathion banned?
The insecticide is a neurotoxin that is part of the dangerous class of old pesticides called organophosphates. Organophosphates were used as nerve agents in chemical warfare and have been linked to Gulf War syndrome, which causes fatigue, headaches, skin problems and breathing disorders in people.
What type of pesticide is parathion?
Ethyl parathion is a restricted use organophosphate insecticide/miticide used to control a broad spectrum of pests on alfalfa, barley, canola, corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, and wheat. It is formulated as a liquid and may be applied only using aerial equipment.
Where is parathion used?
Parathion is a potent organophosphate pesticide. It is a pale yellow-to-brown liquid with an odor like garlic. It is used by farmers as a pesticide on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains. Commercial pesticides often contain a hydrocarbon solvent, which itself can cause illness.
Is parathion a hazardous material?
* Methyl Parathion is on the Hazardous Substance List because it is cited by ACGIH, DOT, NIOSH, HHAG and EPA. * Definitions are provided on page 5.
Is malathion toxic to humans?
2. Is the spraying of malathion harmful to my health or my family's health? Short-term exposures to high levels of malathion can affect the nervous system causing a variety of symptoms, including headaches, nausea, dizziness, weakness, cramps, diarrhea, excessive sweating, blurred vision and increased heart rate.
What happens if you get malathion on your skin?
Malathion is has been reported to cause skin irritation and sensitization. Because it is readily absorbed through the skin, skin contact can result in systemic poisoning. Because of their relatively larger surface area:body weight ratio, children are more vulnerable to toxicants absorbed through the skin.
Can you still buy Dursban?
While Dow AgroSciences, the makers of chlorpyrifos (Dursban), and the EPA agreed in June to limit most outdoor residential and non-residential uses, Dursban Pro is still available for golf course use.
What are the banned pesticides?
The pesticides are: Acephate, Atrazine, Benfuracarb, Butachlor, Captan, Carbendazim, Carbofuran, Chlorpyriphos, 2,4-D, Deltamethrin, Dicofol, Dimethoate, Dinocap, Diuron, Malathion, Mancozeb, Methomyl, Monocrotophos, Oxyfluorfen, Pendimethalin, Quinalphos, Sulfosulfuron, Thiodicarb, Thiophanat emethyl, Thiram, Zineb ...
What is the most toxic pesticide?
Paraquat is one of only two pesticides still used in the United States that is either banned or being phased out in the European Union, China and Brazil. It's the most acutely lethal herbicide still in use today and has resulted in the death of at least 30 people in the United States in the past 30 years.
What is the most poisonous pesticide?
This is a major concern to EPA because paraquat is a Restricted Use Pesticide that should not be accessible to the general public and, as with all pesticides, should never be placed into a beverage container. Paraquat is highly toxic to humans; one small accidental sip can be fatal and there is no antidote.
Why DDT is banned?
Regulation Due to Health and Environmental Effects In 1972, EPA issued a cancellation order for DDT based on its adverse environmental effects, such as those to wildlife, as well as its potential human health risks.
Why is methyl parathion banned?
By banning this one pesticide, the agency can eliminate a substantial portion of the neurotoxic risk from organophosphate insecticides in the food supply. Further, the agency would send a signal that it is serious about protecting children, and that it will act decisively to remove OPs and other neurotoxic threats from the environment in order to do so.
When did the EPA ban methyl parathion?
In January 1998 , the Environmental Working Group called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the insecticide methyl parathion in all foods consumed by children. We supported our recommendation with a detailed analysis of dietary risk of organophosphate exposure for children aged five and under.
How much methyl parathion is safe?
EPA scientists have set the maximum safe daily exposure level, or acute reference dose for methyl parathion at 0.000025 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, the lowest of all the widely-used pesticides. This RfD incorporates the traditional 100-fold inter - and intra-species safety factors, plus the full additional 10-fold safety factor to protect children required by the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).
How many children eat methyl parathion?
An estimated 320,000 children between the ages of one and five years old eat an unsafe dose of methyl parathion in their food every day.
What is the EWG report on organophosphates?
In 1998, EWG released a report entitled Overexposed: Organophosphate Insecticides in Children's Food which evaluated the risks from combined exposure to organophosphates in food and called for an immediate ban on the food use of methyl parathion along with four other OPs (EWG 1998). The analysis in Overexposed calculated daily OP exposure in terms of a common toxic equivalent dose of OPs and then compared this dose to a chronic reference dose (RfD). More than one million children under age six exceed the chronic OP RfD each day. Since that time, EPA has decided to regulate combined OP exposure based on acute - not chronic - RFDs, and EWG has revised its analysis accordingly.
Which foods are most likely to be exposed to methyl parathion?
The foods that exposed the greatest number of children to an unsafe dose of methyl parathion were apples, applesauce, and peaches (Table 2). These three foods, derived from two crops, account for 80 percent of the unsafe methyl parathion exposures each day. About 19 percent of all peaches and 2 percent of all apples, pears and grapes have such a potent dose of methyl parathion on them (after washing by federal technicians) that the equivalent of eating 4 grapes (20 grams) will expose a one-year-old to an unsafe daily dose of the pesticide.
Is methyl parathion toxic to rats?
Peer-reviewed studies in the open literature show that methyl parathion is more toxic to fetal and newborn rats than mature rats. Additional studies show that exposure during critical developmental periods can cause permanent behavioral damage. For example, in one study a single exposure in the rat caused peripheral nerve demyelination, and chronic exposure at relatively low doses caused retinal degeneration and sciatic nerve degeneration (EPA 1998a).
When was Parathion banned?
In the EU, Parathion was banned after 2001. In Switzerland, the substance is no longer approved as a pesticide.
What happens to parathion after degradation?
Degradation of parathion leads to more water-soluble products. Hydrolysis, which deactivates the molecule, occurs at the aryl ester bond resulting in diethyl thiophosphate and 4-nitrophenol. Degradation proceeds differently under anaerobic conditions: the nitro group on parathion is reduced to the amine .
How is parathion absorbed?
It generally disrupts the nervous system by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. It is absorbed via skin, mucous membranes, and orally. Absorbed parathion is rapidly metabolized to paraoxon, as described in Insecticidal activity.
How long does a poisoning last?
Symptoms of poisoning are known to last for extended periods, sometimes months. The most common and very specific antidote is atropine, in doses of up to 100 mg daily. Because atropine may also be toxic, it is recommended that small frequently repeated doses be used in treatment.
Is parathion a carcinogen?
Based on animal studies, parathion is considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be a possible human carcinogen. Studies show that parathion is toxic to fetuses, but does not cause birth defects.
Is parathion a chemical?
For this reason, most formulations contain a blue dye providing warning. Parathion was used as a chemical warfare agent, most notably by an element of the British South Africa Police (BSAP) attached to the Selous Scouts during the Rhodesian Bush War.
Who invented parathion?
Parathion was developed by Gerhard Schrader for the German trust IG Farben in the 1940s. After World War II and the collapse of IG Farben due to the war crime trials, the Western allies seized the patent, and parathion was marketed worldwide by different companies and under different brand names. The most common German brand was E605 (banned in ...
Background
America's Children at Risk
- On December 18, 1998, EPA released for public comment a first tier risk assessment for the insecticide methyl parathion. At that time the agency estimated that children would exceed the safe daily dose of methyl parathion exposure by more than 100-fold. Cheminova, the company that produces most of the methyl parathion sold in the United States, criticized the Agency's tier …
Results
- According to EWG's analysis, 324,000 children between the ages of one and five exceed the reference dose for methyl parathion exposure every day (Table 1). To illustrate the point, this means that every day a population equal to all the one-through-five-year-olds in Minnesota eat an unsafe dose of methyl parathion. Any other OP exposure in food, at home, at school, in water o…
Conclusions and Recommendations
- Methyl parathion is unsafe for children at virtually any dose and must be banned for use immediately on all foods. This insecticide is a relic of an era when highly toxic chemistry was the objective, and when our knowledge of the health risks of pesticides in general, and neurotoxic compounds in particular, was minimal. Now we know that the brains ...
Overview
Parathion, also called parathion-ethyl or diethyl parathion and locally known as "Folidol", is an organophosphate insecticide and acaricide. It was originally developed by IG Farben in the 1940s. It is highly toxic to non-target organisms, including humans, so its use has been banned or restricted in most countries. The basic structure is shared by parathion methyl.
History
Parathion was developed by Gerhard Schrader for the German trust IG Farben in the 1940s. After World War II and the collapse of IG Farben due to the war crime trials, the Western allies seized the patent, and parathion was marketed worldwide by different companies and under different brand names. The most common German brand was E605 (banned in Germany after 2002); this was n…
Handling properties
Pure parathion is a white crystalline solid. It is commonly distributed as a brown liquid that smells of rotting eggs or garlic. The insecticide is somewhat stable, although it darkens when exposed to sunlight.
Industrial synthesis
Parathion is synthesized from diethyl dithiophosphoric acid (C2H5O)2PS2H by chlorination to generate diethylthiophosphoryl chloride ((C2H5O)2P(S)Cl), and then the chloride is treated with sodium 4-nitrophenolate (the sodium salt of 4-nitrophenol).
2 (C2H5O)2P(S)SH + 3 Cl2 → 2 (C2H5O)2P(S)Cl + S2Cl2 + 2 HCl (C2H5O)2P(S)Cl + NaOC6H4NO2 → (C2H5O)2P(S)OC6H4NO2 + NaCl
Applications
As a pesticide, parathion is generally applied by spraying. It is often applied to cotton, rice and fruit trees. The usual concentrations of ready-to-use solutions are 0.05 to 0.1%. The chemical is banned for use on many food crops.
Insecticidal activity
Parathion acts on the enzyme acetylcholinesterase indirectly. After an insect (or a human) ingests parathion, an oxidase replaces the double bonded sulfur with oxygen to give paraoxon.
(C2H5O)2P(S)OC6H4NO2 + 1/2 O2 → (C2H5O)2P(O)OC6H4NO2 + S
The phosphate ester is more reactive in organisms than the phosphorothiolate ester, as the phosphorus atoms become much more electropositive.
Degradation
Degradation of parathion leads to more water-soluble products. Hydrolysis, which deactivates the molecule, occurs at the aryl ester bond resulting in diethyl thiophosphate and 4-nitrophenol.
(C2H5O)2P(S)OC6H4NO2 + H2O → HOC6H4NO2 + (C2H5O)2P(S)OH
Degradation proceeds differently under anaerobic conditions: the nitro group on parathion is reduced to the amine.
Safety
Parathion is a cholinesterase inhibitor. It generally disrupts the nervous system by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. It is absorbed via skin, mucous membranes, and orally. Absorbed parathion is rapidly metabolized to paraoxon, as described in Insecticidal activity. Paraoxon exposure can result in headaches, convulsions, poor vision, vomiting, abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, unconsciousness, tremor, dyspnea, and finally pulmonary edema as well as respiratory arrest. Sy…