What Is Lindane?

Lindane is a drug developed by Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals. In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to the company for publishing misleading advertisements that made false claims about how effective lindane was for treating lice. Scientists consider the drug to be one of the least effective methods for controlling lice. The ads also failed to inform people of potential health risks.

Use

• Lindane is prescribed as a treatment for lice and scabies when other treatments have failed. The chemical has been used for more than 60 years and is chemically classified as hexachlorochyclohexane (HCH). In the past, the chemical has been used as an insecticide on crops and to treat the seeds of wheat, barley, oats, corn, sorghum and rye. Lindane is applied on the scalp as a lotion to get rid of lice.

Water Quality

• In 2002, California banned the use of lindane statewide for all uses to protect the water quality. The chemical often was discarded by being washed down the drain. After the ban, the amount of lindane appearing in wastewater treatment plants in California declined. Also, the number of calls from accidental exposure and poisoning declined. When lindane is washed down the drain, it washes into oceans, lakes and rivers because wastewater treatment plants are not equipped to handle lindane.

Health Effects

• According to a study at the University of California, lindane can cause headaches, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Deaths have also occurred when the chemical was used improperly. In some instances it has been mistaken for cough syrup and swallowed. In a few instances, the chemical has caused seizures even when used as directed.

  Lindane is considered a neurotoxin and an endocrine disrupter. Endocrine disrupters can effect a fetus while in the womb and cause birth defects, while neurotoxins affect the brain. In 1987, a study conducted by the Department of Neurochemistry in Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Barcelona, Spain, found correlations between lindane levels in the blood and brain and convulsions in rats.

Skin Absorption

• Lindane can be absorbed through the skin. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, "Absorption of Lindane in Infants and Children," found concentrations of lindane in the blood of children who had been treated with lindane lotion. Prolonged application of lindane can cause health problems. Infants, children and the elderly are especially at risk of toxicity. Mothers who are breastfeeding can pass the toxin through breast milk or skin to their infants.

Bans

• In 2006, the EPA banned the use of lindane as an agricultural pesticide. Most of the world outlawed the use of lindane in the 1970s. It is still completely banned in 52 countries because of potential health effects and its inability to break down in the environment. The chemical is similar to DDT in the way that it accumulates in the body and environment.