Last week, and capping at least a decades-long battle by consumer advocates, the EPA announced a ban on the pesticide endosulfan -- one of the last legal organochlorine pesticides, a notorious group of which DDT is a member. Horrifically toxic (possibly more toxic to humans than DDT) and banned in the European Union since 2007, endosulfan remains in common -- though technically restricted -- use, especially on Florida tomatoes* and California and Nevada cotton according to the Pesticide Action Network. An article in Environmental Health News presents a much longer list of uses, including melons, cucumbers, squashes, potatoes, apples, blueberries, eggplant, lettuce, and other leafy vegetables, pears, peppers, and stone fruit and cotton.
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