The pesticide has been recognized and signalled as harmful since the 1960s in the United States. In 1990, it became forbidden in Metropolitan France but kept being used with impunity by the banana planters in Martinique and Guadeloupe until 1993. In 2009, Chlordecone was included in the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants, which bans its production and use worldwide, however, the health damage in humans and nature last until nowadays.  

According to Malcom Ferdinand (2015) around 300 tones of active substance were used between 1972 and 1993 on 12,400 hectares and 6,570 hectares of banana plantations in Martinique and Guadeloupe respectively. This means a total of 20,000 hectares of arable land. Moreover, there is no viable decontamination method found to date and this molecule is likely to remain in soils for many generations damaging present and future generations. According to INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique), 200 to 500 years would be needed to reduce pollution.

Many scientific studies have shown the relation between the chemical and the risk of prostate cancer having Martinique and Guadeloupe some of the highest prostate cancer diagnosis rates in the world. Other health affectations are precocious pregnancies, specific impact on children (prenatal exposure through the placenta and post-natal exposure thought breastmilk and other nourishment).  Also, the chemical has led to a “new disease” which local people have referred as  “Kepone syndrome” to describe nervous system disorders of the such as tremors, loss of immediate memory and mood disorders. Other studies have shown scoliosis and nervous system damages in fish related to Kepone exposure. According to a  survey (the Kannari survey), 92% of people tested in Martinique have chlordecone in their body and 19% of children tested exceed the toxic dose, other studies show that 90% of the Guadeloupeans are also contaminated. 

Since people realized their health affectations related to chlordecone, they began to ask for justice and monetary compensation through judicial activism but they have received no answer from authorities.  Many protests and public manifestations and campaigns have been taking place since then in both Martinique and Guadaloupe. 

Description in French (Extrait de Malcom Ferdinand, De l'usage du chlordécone en Martinique et en Guadeloupe: l'égalité en question) 

Le début du xxie siècle fut marqué par l’apparition sur la scène publique de conflits concernant la pollution de ces îles par des pesticides. L’utilisation massive de pesticides et autres produits phytosanitaires au cours de la deuxième moitié du xxe siècle dans l’agriculture, et particulièrement dans les bananeraies, a engendré une importante contamination des terres et des eaux de ces îles avec de graves conséquences sur la santé des populations. Parmi les divers pesticides et molécules, l’utilisation du chloredécone (CLD) demeure vraisemblablement la plus préoccupante. Cette molécule organochlorée se présentait à travers ses formulations commerciales, le Képone® puis Curlone®, sous la forme d’une poudre blanche. Celle-ci était régulièrement épandue à la base des bananiers entre 1972 et 1993 afin de lutter contre le charançon Cosmopolites sordidus, un insecte ravageant les plants de bananiers à leurs bulbes. Aujourd’hui, plus de 25 % des terres agricoles de Martinique et de Guadeloupe sont contaminées par cette molécule classée comme cancérigène probable, pour une durée allant de soixante ans à sept siècles . De par sa forte rémanence et ses effets néfastes sur la santé publique, cette pollution constitue aujourd’hui un enjeu sanitaire public majeur dans ces départements. 

-Chlordecone was classified as a probable carcinogenic agent (2b) in 1979. It has been proven to increases the chances of prostate cancer.

As a endocrine disruptor, this chemical delays cognitive development of infants.