KOCHI: The findings of the specialist panel of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that pesticide Lindane can cause cancer is a warning to the Indian consumers who may be still using anti-lice shampoo with Lindane content, experts warn.
Until it was restricted in India three years back, Lindane was very much used for agricultural purposes and as a substitute for DDT, says C Jayakumar, Steering Committee member of the International POPs Elimination Network. Though it was banned here, Lindane may be an ingredient in many anti-lice shampoos available in the market. The findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the WHO that Lindane could cause cancer is a cause of grave concern, he added.
The IARC had found “sufficient evidence” to link Lindane to a cancer called non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The report of the agency released on Wednesday also pointed out that it is an ingredient in some head lice and scabies treatments in some countries including developing countries including India. The agency’s findings were largely based on studies among agricultural workers. And the research found “a consistent, approximately 50% increase in risk, with higher risks in heavily exposed exposed agricultural workers.”
Though the agricultural use was restricted in India after other countries including the US and the EU banned it, it was allowed to be used for ‘medicinal purposes,’ said C Jayakumar, who is also the director of Thanal, an NGO based in Thiruvananthapuram. Even if the Lindane content is very low, anti-lice shampoo with the harmful chemical, that would be directly applied on scalp may create more harm than perceived, he observed. Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee, Government of India, had included Lindane in the banned list of pesticides this year. The US Food and Drug Administration had issued directives warning that use of Lindane shampoo and lotion can cause “serious side effects including seizures” and even deaths of patients who used too much Lindane.