Lindane
Definition of lindane:
Lindane is the common name for the γ-isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and is used as an insecticide.
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This is the common definition for lindane, other definitions can be discussed in the article
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Notes
The use of HCH is generally prohibited in Western Europe and North America since 1979. The use of its main constituent, lindane has been phased out in Europe since 2002. Lindane is an insecticide which had a widespread use in agriculture and forestry, for seed treatment, in household biocidal products, as a textile preservative and as a wood preservative. Lindane has been intensively used for many years since 1949 but has been replaced in most applications. From an estimated use of nearly 7900 tonnes in 1970 in Europe, the use decreased to about 2300 tonnes in 1996.
Lindane is stable in fresh water as well as in seawater. It is removed through secondary mechanisms such as adsorption on sediment or via fish
through the gills, the skin or ingestion. Degradation takes place much faster under anaerobic conditions
than in the presence of oxygen. A limited degradability has been demonstrated and the occurrence in
remote areas is due to long-range transport. Lindane occurs in different compartments and trophic levels
of the Arctic and is accumulated by species at low trophic levels, while the biomagnification potential is
low at the upper end of the food web. A number of ecotoxicity data for lindane are well within the range
of OSPAR Ecotoxicological Assessment Criteria (0,5-5 μg/l), which are used for the identification of
