Pesticide in China

A review on the usage of POP pesticides in China, with emphasis on DDT loadings in human milk M.H. Wong, A.O.W. Leung, J.K.Y. Chan and M.P.K. Choi. 

Institutional, policy, and legal framework for organic pesticides in China... 

The production and use of most POP pesticides have been prohibited in China, but DDT, HCB, chlordane, and mirex were still in production and use in 2003. DDT is used as an intermediate for producing Dicofol, anti-fouling paint, as an ingredient in some mosquito-repellent incense, and for malaria prevention (including export). HCB is never used as a pesticide in China, but it is used as an intermediate to produce sodium pentachlorophenol (Na-PCP), which is used extensively to kill snails in those places where schistosomiasis prevails. Owing to their specific... 

HCB is not used and has never been registered as a pesticide in China. As discussed above, it is used principally as an intermediate to produce pentachlorophenol (PCP) and Na-PCP in closed systems. After 1995, HCB was mainly used as an intermediate to produce Na-PCP. From 1988 to 2003, there was a cumulative output of 4840 MT of PCP (accounting for 5% of total output) and 104,323 MT of Na-PCP (accounting for 95% of total output) from the Tianjin plant. During this period, 793 MT of HCB (accounting for 1.2% of total output) was sold as raw material to produce fireworks and as reagents. 

Above, the pollution situation associated with persistent pesticides in China has been summarized for environmental media including air, water, soil, and sediment. The residues of pesticide POPs in food have also been summarized. Other studies on POP residues, such as residues... 

Office for Stockholm Convention Implementation in China, 2004. College of Environmental Science, Peking University. Strategy for phase out of POP pesticides in China. 

In 1997, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council decided that immediate international action should be taken to protect human health and the environment. International negotiations to reduce and eliminate the emission and discharges of an initial set of 12 POPs were initiated at the Stockholm Convention on POPs in May 2001. The 12 substances that were addressed at the Stockholm Convention were aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, dichlorodiphenyltrichoroethanes (DDTs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), chlordane, toxaphene, heptachlor, hex-achlorobenzene (HCB) and mirex. Basic information and status of major organochlorine pesticides in China are summarized in Table 8.1. 

Thiers, P., Pesticides in China. Global Pesticide Campaigner, Vol 4 No 1, March 1994... 

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