DDT is currently used in indoor residual spraying (IRS) for malaria vector control in several countries, in accordance with the recommendations and guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). Nonetheless, this chemical is among the 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) the production or use of which is restricted by the …
Who is now pushing for the use of pesticide ddt ( dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane ) in its malaria control programme , which the industrialised countries like the us banned 30 years back. Following the recommendation, meant particularly to target developing countries like Africa, the us government has said it is prepared to …
Malaria is transmitted by the genus Anopheles. India has 58 species, of which six are important: An culicifacies, An fluviatilis, An minimus, An sundaicus , An stephensi and An dirus. In the northeast, An minimus and An dirus are the major vectors
Over 90 per cent of us residents carry a cocktail of pesticides in them, according to the Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals released by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc) on July 21, 2005. The cdc bio-monitoring program tested the blood and urine of …
The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is at risk of extinction throughout its range as a result of incidental catches, habitat degradation, and pollution. Populations of Irrawaddy dolphins are constrained by the species
sonia's take: While the Centre plans to move the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill in the current session of Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently suggested four amendments to it. She said employment should be guaranteed to anyone who offers to work for the prescribed wage, not merely to the …
dichloro chloro phenyl ethylene (dde), a toxic residue of ddt, has been found responsible for foetal loss, according to a study conducted by Mathew Longnecker and his co-workers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the us (Environmental Research, Vol 97, No 2 pp 127-133). From 1997-1999, blood …
Studied were conducted to monitor the terminal pesticide residues in unpolished, polished and parboiled rice. Fifteen rice varieties were collected from Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Titabar of Assam Agricultural University during 2002. Each variety was tested in terms of unpolished, polished and parboiled form, for the presence of pesticide …
adding small amounts of seaweed to ddt-contaminated sites can effectively break down the deadly pesticide, as per an international team of researchers. During a series of experiments, the researchers found that too much seaweed hindered the degradation of the pesticide. "But an effective mix of 0.5 per cent seaweed added …
There is never any end to learning. And so, surprises. We have learnt, over 20 years, that environmental governance in India is lackadaisical. Still, the extent of irresponsibility never fails to surprise. Some months ago we did a study on pesticides in bottled water. We were really looking at pesticides …
in april this year, California became the first us state to introduce a bill to biomonitor breast milk. Activists and researchers hope that once this legislation is passed, it will help people realise that mothers pass on toxic material to their offspring. Breast milk monitoring would also help create awareness …
forty-year-old Nizamuddin couldn't have been struck down by malaria at a worse time. He is laid up at the Pokran primary health centre (phc) in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district instead of tending bajra (millet) and guar (a legume) crops in his fields in Nananiya village. Sadly, a healthy monsoon
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 Centre for Science and Environment’s (cse) recent exposé has blown the lid off the industry’s tall claims on the purity of bottled water. Simultaneously, it has brought to the surface a much larger problem: contamination of groundwater by pesticides. On its part, the government seems to be in flip-flop …
Last time I wrote about the cycle of poison, where one toxic substance is replaced with another, equally toxic, one. This cycle, I wrote, is exactly like the modern economy where business is profitable only when it comes up with profitable solutions for old problems. It is a toxic tango, …
After we released our study on pesticide residues on bottled water, an experienced science journalist called me to verify something I had said in the press conference. He wanted to know if it was really true that the government had not laid down quantified standards for pesticide residues in drinking …
There was a time in the recently liberalised past when people didn't quite know how to refer to a new product called drinking water. They would say 'bottled water' and 'mineral water' to freely refer to one or the other kind of water, perhaps meaning the same one. It used …
