Global HCH Usage with 1° × 1° Longitude/Latitude Resolution

The global usage of technical HCH and lindane in 1980 and 1990 are presented. The total global usage for technical HCH was estimated to be 40 000 t in 1980 and 29 000 t in 1990, and for lindane it was 5900 t in 1980 and 4000 t in 1990. Based on these data, the global usage of both α-HCH and γ-HCH were calculated. The total usage of α-HCH was around 28 000 t in 1980 and 20 400 t in 1990, while the total usage of γ-HCH was around 11 900 t in 1980 and 8400 t in 1990. The ratio of γ-HCH to α-HCH was 0.43 in 1980 and 0.41 in 1990. The usage data on countries are then mapped to a grid system with 1° × 1° longitude/latitude resolution to be useful for modeling. It is suggested that banning usage of technical HCH by a number of countries, such as China in the early 1980s and the former Soviet Union in the beginning of 1990s, may contribute to the decline of the atmospheric concentrations of both α-HCH and γ-HCH in 1992−1993. While many countries banned use of technical HCH in 1980s, lindane was still used by many countries around world in 1990.