The illegal trade in chemicals
<p>Chemicals provide important benefits to society and play a vital role in the global economy, but they also carry risks for the environment and human health, with greater risks to vulnerable social groups.
Toxic Wastes
-
NRC staff to review nuclear reactor waste storage rules
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) directed its staff on Thursday to start an environmental review into the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel, following a court ruling that led the agency
-
Gov't selects Tochigi forest as nuclear waste disposal site
The government on Monday said it had chosen a 4-hectare area of national forest land in Tochigi Prefecture as a candidate storage site for radioactive waste from Fukushima Prefecture. The area is near
-
German company moves forward
The proposal of German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to dispose of the 350 tonnes of toxic waste lying at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has finally
-
Mumbai's air has become more toxic over a year
MUMBAI: The air you breathe has worsened over the last year. The levels of harmful and carcinogenic compounds like benzopyrene and nickel have seen a rise and, more worryingly for you, in some places in
-
Goa villagers protest pollution by Sesa Goa plant
Thousands of villagers from Navelim in Bicholim taluka of Goa today observed a day-long bandh against Sesa Goa’s metallurgical coke plant in the village, claiming that it is polluting their surroundings.
-
Garbage has no direct effect on health: Experts
Unattended rubbish heaps invite insects, rodents and stray animals. They do not, however, have any direct implication on people’s health, experts say. But if flies from garbage dumps bite someone, there are chances of him/her developing ‘insect bite allergy’, Dr Maya Philip, dermatologist, Mallya Hospital, said. There is no known case of skin allergies caused by garbage. Those residing close to garbage dumps, especially in landfill areas, do suffer from insect bite allergies. Skin rashes are mainly seen among those who handle garbage with their hands,” she said.
-
Row over report on Carbide site water
A cruel joke has been played out at the expense of the Bhopal victims of the world’s worst industrial disaster. The Supreme Court had ordered the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file a report on the status of the ground water contamination at the Union Carbide plant site in Bhopal by June 4, 2012. The CPCB has treated this entire exercise in a rather lackadaisical fashion and from the six samples tested by them, five were taken from the drinking water supply of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation. The sixth sample was taken from a borewell dug in Street No. 8 and being used by the Ayasha Hotel at Arif Nagar in Bhopal.
-
Treasure Island radiation discovery casts shadow over expansion plans
It was called Treasure Island in honour of Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate classic, but the artificial island off San Francisco bay has nothing but trouble buried in its soil: radioactive contamination
-
SC seeks toxicity report of Bhopal groundwater
The first-ever official test to find out toxicity level in groundwater around Bhopal’s Union Carbide plant since the leak of poisonous gas in 1984 will be soon conducted with the Supreme Court on Monday
-
NGOs: Decision vindicates our stand
Five non-government organisations representing victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster on Monday described the latest decision taken at the meeting of Group of Ministers to send 350 tonnes of hazardous waste from the abandoned Union Carbide pesticide plant to Germany for safe disposal was a vindication of their long-standing demand on the issue. They described this as a “minor but significant victory” in their 22 year long battle. At a press conference here, the organisations pointed out that the GoM’s decision has highlighted the toxic nature of Union Carbide’s waste and the ongoing dangers posed by the thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste in and around the abandoned pesticide factory.