The Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) has been investigating mercury-added skin lightening products (SLPs) for several years, primarily due to their health risks, their illegality under many national laws, and the prohibition by the Minamata Convention on Mercury against the manufacture and trade of mercury-added SLPs, which generally became effective …
After sending fire crackers commonly used in Diwali and often handled by children to a private laboratory, NGO Awaaz Foundation has written to the chief minister and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to withdraw these crackers from the market. Reason: The test results indicated the presence of …
‘Mercury in the Mist,’ a documentary on plight of people affected by alleged mercury contamination by Hindustan Uniliver Clinical Thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, was screened by Sevvakam, a youth forum, which organises monthly documentary screenings, in the city on Sunday. The documentary was directed by R.P. Amudhan. The screening was …
The Ministry of Environment, Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI) has begun the process required to ratify and rapidly implement the Minamata Convention on mercury to protect human life and the environment against mercury poisoning. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is under the Ministry, has therefore led a national stakeholder’s …
CHENNAI: Could the move by Hindustan Unilever to bring down mercury level in the factory site to 20mg/kg pose no threat to to the ecologically sensitive watershed in Kodaikanal? The Local Area environment Committee says ‘No’ by rejecting the proposal mooted by Hindustan Unilever during a closed door meeting called …
The Tribunal had constituted a core committee to monitor the potential hazards of industrial development in Singrauli area and five sub-committees for quantification of industrial pollution and impact assessment of water, air, soil and health in and around Singrauli. The committee informed the bench that ground water in the villages …
The tanneries in Kasur in Pakistan, where the world-famous handmade “Kasuri jutti” is made, is spreading pollution across the border in Punjab. The tanneries are dumping tonnes of hazardous chemicals into a Sutlej tributary that flows into India. This is causing serious health problems for the residents of villages in …
Even minuscule increases in the amount of tiny chemical particles -- by 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air, for example -- lead to roughly a 10 percent increase in risk of death due to heart disease, says a study. "Our data add to a growing body of evidence that …
People who take unregulated complementary medicines are at a higher risk of being contaminated by heavy metals, a medical scientist has warned. Research from the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) reveals that certain complementary medicines, especially Ayurvedic treatments – an Indian traditional …
Mercury pollution in California may be coming from a surprising source: elephant seals. Scientists have found that molting elephant seals actually shed considerable amounts of mercury into coastal waters. Mercury is a major problem in the marine environment. The most toxic form of it, methyl mercury, is readily absorbed and …
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has started to regulate cosmetics laced with heavy metals after the Drug Technical advisory Board (DTAB), country’s apex body on drugs, proposed to restrict the presence of mercury in cosmetics. The use of mercury was earlier prohibited in cosmetics. In the amendments proposed …
Researchers say mercury and other chemicals that were found in Lake Powell have moved downstream and are now being found in fish and aquatic plants in the Grand Canyon. The Arizona Daily Sun reports (http://bit.ly/1JjPj1D) no consumption advisories have been issued for fish in the study area that was researched …
China presently contributes the largest amount of anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emission into the atmosphere in the world. Over the past decade, numerous studies have been conducted to characterize the concentration and forms of atmospheric Hg in China, which provide insights into the spatial and temporal distributions of atmospheric Hg through …
Although the Grand Canyon segment of the Colorado River features one of the most remote ecosystems in the United States, it is not immune to exposure from toxic chemicals such as mercury according to newly published research in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. The study, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, …
CHENNAI: After the activists, it is now the turn of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to put pressure on Unilever for the pollution caused by its now-shut thermometer factory in Kodaikanal. Following the decision taken during its recent meeting on May 28, the Scientific Experts Committee (SEC) formed …
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 …
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 …
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 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, …
