NEW DELHI/LONDON: The pesticide that killed 23 Indian schoolchildren last week is a nerve poison banned by many countries because of what the World Health Organisation (WHO) describes as its “high acute toxicity”.
As early as 2009, the United Nations health agency had urged India to consider a ban on monocrotophos — the substance said by a magistrate investigating the deaths to be the cause of the poisoning.
It had also warned that in India many pesticide containers are not thrown away after use but recycled and used for storing water, food and even medicines.
Monocrotophos belongs to a family of chemicals called organophosphates that share a common mechanism of toxic action.
“They interfere with transmission between one nerve and another, or with transmission between nerves and muscle cells,” said David Coggon, a professor of occupational and environmental medicine at Britain’s University of Southampton.
According to WHO, swallowing just 1,200 milligrams of monocrotophos can be fatal to humans. Initial symptoms can include sweating, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and foaming at the mouth.
“Its low cost and many possible applications have kept up demand in India despite growing evidence of its negative impact on human health,” a 2009 WHO report said.
REUTERS
