Hexachlorocyclohexane use in the former Soviet Union

Abstract

Because of the large size of the former Soviet Union (FSU) and the heavy use of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the FSU, usage information regarding OCPs in the FSU is important in compiling global emission inventories and thus in studying the transport of OCPs among different environmental compartments worldwide. The availability of such information is limited. By analyzing the available 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) data in the FSU, this article presents estimates of HCH usage in this region from 1950 to 1990, when HCH was officially banned for agricultural use by the FSU government. The creation of HCH usage inventories for the FSU has paved the way to produce HCH emission inventories for this region. Total HCH usages for agricultural purposes in the FSU from 1950 to 1990 were estimated to be 1,960 kt for technical HCH and 40 kt for lindane. The total usage for the isomers was 270 kt for gamma-HCH, 1,270 kt for alpha-HCH, and 170 kt for beta-HCH. Use of HCH reached a peak in 1965: 130 kt for technical HCH, 2.7 kt for lindane, 18 kt for gamma-HCH, 86 kt for alpha-HCH, and 11 kt for beta-HCH. Gridded usage data sets in the FSU of technical HCH and lindane-and the alpha-HCH, beta-HCH and gamma-HCH isomers-on a 1degree x 1degree longitude and latitude grid system for 1980 are freely available to all users at http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/data/gloperd/.