The Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers presented its report on ‘Insecticides and Pesticides – Promotion and Development including Safe Usage – Licensing Regime for Insecticides’ on December 19, 2023. Pesticides are broadly of four types: insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and bio-pesticides. Herbicides kill/control the growth of weeds, and have the …
glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide, encourages the growth of toxic fungi that devastate wheat fields. This is the alarming finding of a study conducted by scientists working for the Canadian government. The conclusion could prove to be a major blow for backers of genetically modified (gm) wheat, especially …
How do pests select which plants to attack in the field? By smelling odours plants emit, believe most entomologists. And an entire industry of pesticides has evolved around this principle, to ensure pests can't get that appetising whiff of the plant they want; insecticides are made to confuse them. But …
the soft drink episode has apparently made the authorities wise up to the need for hard resolve. On August 26, 2003, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (mohfw) issued a draft notification amending the Prevention of Food Adulteration (pfa) Rules, 1955, to give them more teeth. The proposed …
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (fao) has promised "substantial financial support' to help Tanzania dispose of about 1,000 tonnes of pesticides stored in the country's warehouses. These chemicals had come from developed nations, mostly through foreign aid programmes. The government's announcement about the fao assistance followed allegations of "excessive negligence' …
a study conducted in the wheat growing regions of the us indicates that use of herbicides like 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid can lead to malformation among newborns. These herbicides are widely used for weed control in parks and farms. In the past they have been linked with an increased …
the science policies of the Bush administration are skewed to suit ideology, and they often ignore scientific studies that do not support the viewpoints of the Conservatives. Scientists and Democrats have made these allegations in a report by the us House of Representatives' government reform committee. "Our report amply illustrates …
It is interesting how the coalitions of the willing and the wanting shift in this world. When it comes to negotiations on ecological globalisation - conventions from climate change to biodiversity protection - the powers almost always align as follows: on one side, the US flanked by its partners (Japan, …
Last fortnight, I said I did not know how the two Cola giants would respond to our study on pesticides in soft drinks. Now I do. I have learnt how global corporations deal with public concerns. Hours after we released our report, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola convened a press conference to …
The Pollution Monitoring Laboratory (PML) of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) places in the public domain its analysis of the contents of 12 cold drink brands sold in Delhi. Three bottles of each of the 12 brands were purchased from markets across the city and analysed to see …
Drinking water falls under the purview of Union ministry of urban development and poverty alleviation (MoUDPA). The Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) under this ministry sets guidelines for drinking water quality. Local bodies
The Indian government has notified new standards for pesticide residues in bottled water. The notification came on July 18, 2003, bringing the curtains down on a 6-month drama that had turned quite farcical. 6 months ago, a study conducted by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) (see: …
The Colombian government is caught between a rock and a hard place. A court has ordered the country's government to stop spraying Monsanto's glyphosate herbicides on coca and other crop plantations until more research is done on the chemical's possible ill-effects on health and the environment. But the us-backed glyphosate-spraying …
In February, we released a study on pesticide residues in bottled water being sold in the market. We reported how we found legalised pesticides in bottled water. In other words, the norms for regulating pesticide levels in these bottles were so designed that pesticide residues would not be detected. We …
Environmental effects of aerial spraying of Endosulphan at the Cashew plantations of Kasaragod District is a burning issue during the past few years and now also in Kerala. Endosulphan aerial spraying was done in Kasaragod District by Plantation Corporation during the last 24 years. More and more health problems, were …
due to the rampant use of herbicides, men in rural areas have lower sperm counts than their urban peers. This is the finding of a recent follow-up study conducted by a researcher from the University of Missouri-Columbia, usa. Shanna Swan, a professor of family and community medicine, had announced in …
the Jammu and Kashmir government has cracked down hard on dealers of substandard pesticides, fertilisers and fungicides who have, of late, been doing roaring business in the state at the expense of gullible farmers. In April 2003, the Directorate of Enforcement
New York's state attorney, Eliot Spitzer, plans to initiate legal action against a unit of Dow Chemical Company of the US for alleged violation of a 1994 pact banning false advertising of a pesticide. The planned lawsuit against Dow AgroSciences LLC involves Dursban, a pesticide used in homes to kill …
it has been proposed to include all forms of asbestos, the pesticide dinitro-ortho-cresol (dnoc) and pesticide formulation Granox tbc/Spinox t in a list of toxic chemicals that would be subject to trade controls. This recommendation was made by the Interim Chemical Review Committee (icrc) of the Rotterdam Convention on the …
Organic crops contain more healthy compounds than their conventional counterparts, because they are not exposed to pesticides. Work by US-based University of California indicates that organic berries and corn contain up to 58 per cent more polyphenolics
