Revealed: Litchi deaths not caused by the fruit, banned pesticide `Endosulfan` is to blame

A new study has revealed that the delicious tropical fruit is not responsible for the untimely deaths of the children, but the banned pesticide Endosulfan is the real cause.

New Delhi: In recent years, hundreds of children in Bihar lost their lives due to a mysterious brain disease.

General populace thought that consumption of litchi led to the mysterious deaths of 122 children in Bihar's Muzaffarpur alone.

But, a new study has revealed that the delicious tropical fruit is not responsible for the untimely deaths of the children, but the banned pesticide Endosulfan.

Earlier this year, the Lancet published a study blaming the tropical fruit for the unexplained deaths of the children. It states that litchi, when consumed on empty stomach by malnourished children, could lead to extremely low blood-sugar levels, causing seizure and even death.

According to the new study, it’s the land and not the produce that was causing the unexplained neurological damage.

However, the new study published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has revealed that a number of pesticides like endosulfan, which has been banned since 2011, are still being used and caused the brain damage among children.

Researchers learned that children often ate unwashed fruit that fell to the ground, and peeled away the litchis' rough-textured red skin with their teeth.

But, the finding was not able to prove that each of the deaths was caused by the endosulfan or identify the pesticide which caused the deaths.