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. Chemicals can contaminate soil, air and water and can damage biodiversity, and human exposure to chemicals is …
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board will conduct an in-depth study of the effects of mercury in the environment caused by the now-defunct thermometer manufacturing unit of Hindustan Unilever in Kodaikanal. In response to The Hindu ’s report ‘Unilever ready to clean up premises at Kodaikanal. Seeks consent of Tamil …
Order of the National Green Tribunal (Principal Bench, New Delhi) in the matter of Toxics Links Vs. Union of India & Others dated 04/08/2015 regarding the issue of formulating the scheme for environment friendly disposal of CFL and recovery of mercury.
The campaign to stop President Barack Obama's sweeping emissions limits on power plants began taking shape Wednesday, as 16 states asked the government to put the rules on hold while a Senate panel moved to block them. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is leading the charge against the …
The White House insisted on Sunday it was on strong legal footing as it unveiled details of ambitious carbon-reduction plans that are likely to be fiercely opposed by coal-burning Republican states. Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told reporters the Obama administration’s goal of reducing carbon dioxide …
Walk into any home, office or warehouse and you can be sure to come across electronic junk or old, disused electronic gadgets such as cell phones, electric lamps, tape-recorders, radios, iPods and stereos, CDs, DVDs, batteries, even old TV and computers, fax machines and so on. Unlike kitchen and household …
Public concern about adulterants such as formalin in food, underlies the growing number of enforcement drives we are witnessing to make the food we eat safer. However, awareness also needs to be raised about the hidden problem of food being contaminated by high traces of heavy metals such as arsenic, …
Many factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for …
Colonial cinnabar mining and refining began in Huancavelica, Peru, in 1564. With a local source of mercury, the amalgamation process was adopted to refine silver in Potosí, Bolivia, in the early 1570s. As a result, large quantities of mercury were released into the environment. Original Source
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling against a federal regulation aimed at cutting air pollution from power plants will limit growth for Cabot Corp and Calgon Carbon Corp, which make activated carbon used to curb mercury emissions. An approval of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule was expected to …
The US supreme court struck down new rules for America’s biggest air polluters on Monday, dealing a blow to the Obama administration’s efforts to set limits on the amount of mercury, arsenic and other toxins coal-fired power plants can spew into the air, lakes and rivers. The 5-4 decision was …
Ex-workers affected due to mercury pollution by the Hindustan Unilever’s now-defunct thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, on Monday staged a protest at the company’s headquarters in Andheri, Mumbai, when the Annual General Meeting with shareholders was held. Supported by 30 volunteers from Mumbai, 11 families from Kodaikanal took part in the …
A new study has found high levels of toxic mercury in vegetation and sediment collected from the vicinity of a thermometer factory which was shut 14 years ago in the hill station of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, an NGO claimed today. "Lichen samples contained 53 mg/kg of mercury, a moss …
Anti-pollution rules may have uncertain effects. Scientists have found that air pollution regulations issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may not be as effective as believed. In this latest study, the researchers analyzed the costs and expected lifesavings of nine regulations issued between 2011 and 2013. The bulk of …
The European Parliament voted last week to re-assess the use of cadmium in TV sets sold across Europe, saying safer alternatives to the toxic and carcinogenic substance were now widely available. Cadmium is widely used in illumination and display lighting applications such as LCD screens used in television sets or …
NEW DELHI: Moving to tighten norms for emissions of major pollutants by coal-based power plants in the country, the environment ministry has proposed a fresh standard for old and new units seeking them to substantially cut down release of health-damaging particulate matter (PM). Since the impact of pollution from coal-based …
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has drafted new emission and water consumption standards for thermal power plants. In a draft notification soliciting comments from the public on the matter, it laid out the tighter norms that are expected to cut down emissions of particulate matter and other …
Weak draft EU rules for coal plant emissions could result in 71,000 deaths and €52bn (£37bn) of health costs across Europe in the decade to come, according to new research published on Wednesday. A Greenpeace investigation earlier this year found that the coal standards would be more lax than those …
Moving to tighten norms for emissions of major pollutants by coal-based power plants in the country, the environment ministry has proposed a fresh standard for old and new units seeking them to substantially cut down release of health-damaging particulate matter (PM). Since the impact of pollution from coal-based power generation …
Duke Energy, the nation’s largest utility corporation, pleaded guilty on Thursday to criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act for the discharge of coal ash, a potentially toxic waste product, and for a failure to properly maintain equipment at a number of power plants in its home state of …
Expressing astonishment that there is "no binding regulation or infrastructure" for disposal of mercury, a parliamentary panel has recommended the government to take concrete steps to ensure safe and scientific disposal of CFLs. "The committee is astonished to note that even though short-term exposure to mercury affects nervous, digestive and …
