Environmental groups and other civil society organizations, led by the Pesticide Action Network (RAP-Chile), launched a campaign calling for a ban on the use of lindane in the treatment of lice and scabies, due to its toxic effects on health and the environment. “It's shameful that lindane, an organochloride banned since 1998 by the Ministry of Agriculture for its farm uses continues to be applied to our children's heads,” María Elena Rozas, of RAP-Chile, told Tierramérica.

Rozas said the chemical is completely banned in 11 Latin American countries and the European Union because it is a carcinogen and because it causes neurological damage, infant aplastic anemia and CHARGE syndrome.

An informational manual will be distributed, mentioning commercial and natural alternatives to lindane, and signatures will be collected to send a letter to Chile's President Michelle Bachelet.