Insecticide 'should have been banned years ago'

An independent fish expert has criticised the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for taking so long to ban the toxic chemical endosulfan.

The authority has cancelled the registration of the insecticide after new information suggested that it was likely to lead to environmental damage.

The insecticide's residue has been detected right throughout the environment, including in the blood of polar bears.

Environmentalists argue the insecticide has already been deregistered in more than 60 countries and they accuse the regulator of moving now only to save Australia the embarrassment of being one of the last countries in the world to shut down use of the chemical.
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My cousin, Anthony van Boxtel, 45 years old living in Canada was a pilot in such a spraying plane. He died last year of acute leukemia... He didn't want to take over his fathers farm as this job paid far more with less hard work... it did...
Locust plague pesticide 'risky to humans'Chemicals used to combat a looming locust plague across four states could be dangerous to humans and better management of pesticides is needed, environmental groups say.

But farmers say these chemicals are absolutely necessary to control the worst locust swarms seen since the 1970s.