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 …
Most reputed electronic and electrical equipment companies—both Indian and multinational have failed grossly in fulfilling their responsibilities under extended producer responsibility (EPR) as defined under the e-waste management rules 2011, according to a report released by Toxics Link, an environmental NGO recently. The report titled "Time to Reboot" names and …
A worker walks amongst piles of coal loaded onto barges on the Ohio River in West Virginia. The mining industry accounted for 5.5 percentage points of West Virginia’s GDP growth in 2013. The Environmental Protection Agency calls its carbon rules an economic winner that will deliver more than $10 in …
When Zhang Junwei’s uncle died in February 2012, he was only 50. In the three years that he had endured the cancer that killed him, surgeons had removed both his rectum and his bladder. “Perhaps he was better off dead,” said Zhang, reflecting on his uncle’s ordeal. “It was a …
The sweet tea served in the tidy kitchen of Joanne Thomas' antebellum home comes with an ominous warning. "It's made with bottled water," says Thomas, a spry 71-year-old. "But the ice comes from our well." For more than 80 years, the Thomas family has lived on a farm that abuts …
The state government had leased about 80 acres of land to the company for setting up of its plant Caustic soda manufacturer Jayashree Chemicals Ltd, an S K Bangur Group firm, has courted trouble as the Ganjam district administration has issued a showcause notice to the company for allegedly sub-leasing …
A recent study conducted by the Lake Development Authority (LDA) in 15 prime lakes in Bangalore has revealed shocking details. The water quality report shows that all lakes are highly polluted with lead and mercury. The LDA has submitted the report – a copy of which is with Deccan Herald …
A large number of consumers have switched to using Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) to save electricity but in the absence of any monitoring system and with most of the disposal chain being in the informal sector, there is an increased risk of the hazardous mercury from CFLs escaping into the …
Industrial facilities continue to dump millions of pounds of toxic chemicals into America’s rivers, streams, lakes and ocean waters each year – threatening both the environment and human health. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), toxic discharges from industrial facilities are responsible for polluting more than 17,000 miles …
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in at least its sixth court victory this year in air-quality cases, defeated a challenge by environmental groups to its delay of new rules to combat acid rain. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington today accepted the agency’s argument that drafting effective rules to …
A huge demonstration against a planned waste incinerator in one of eastern China’s biggest cities turned violent on Saturday with protesters overturning and setting fire to police cars, leaving at least 10 demonstrators and 29 police officers injured, according to Xinhua, the official state-run news agency. The authorities in the …
After laying inactive for 11 years, the Stocamine site will close, with some of the waste being conveyed back to the surface. In just 90 seconds, the pit lift-car drops 550 metres, to the sound of screeching metal and creaking timber. Wearing helmets and head-lamps, an oxygen emergency kit slung …
Vidarbha Environmental Action Group (VEAG), a local voluntary organization, has opposed setting up of a thermal power plant in the region by Vidarbha Industries Power Ltd (VIPL), a Reliance group company. The plant will be second in the region. The case for allowing a 900 MW coal-fired power plant at …
Australia is a coal country. It is big business; miners are important in politics and black gold exports dominate the country's finances. But dirty and polluting coal evokes strong emotions in environmentally concerned people. Coal-based power provides 40 per cent of the world's electricity but emits one-third of global carbon …
China’s soil is laced with pollutants including mercury and arsenic, according to a nine-year government survey, posing a threat to agriculture and human health and raising new concern about the environmental costs of China’s three decades of economic growth. Safety guidelines were breached in 16 percent of the 6.3 million …
The Chinese government released a report on Thursday that said nearly one-fifth of its arable land was polluted, a finding certain to raise questions about the toxic results of China’s rapid industrialization, its lack of regulations over commercial interests and the consequences for the national food chain. The report, issued …
In a victory for the Obama administration, a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a regulation that would limit emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants mainly from coal-fired power plants, starting next year. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit could help …
The state Pollution Control Board is finally devising a strategy to deal with the situation in the state's industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN). The move comes in the aftermath of flak from NGOs citing lack of timely action to contain air pollution emanating from BBN. Various NGOs, including Him Dhara, …
As 60% of Sutana’s population is suffering from diseases due to fly ash generated from Panipat Thermal Power Station Residents of Sutana, a village in Panipat, have participated enthusiastically in every Assembly and Parliamentary elections since Independence, but this time, they have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha elections slated …
Thiruvananthapuram: The Energy Management Centre-Kerala has shortlisted IRG Systems South Asia, an Indian subsidiary of an American company, for preparing a detailed project report for setting up a chain of compact fluorescent lamps’ (CFL) recycling units across the state. Since 2012 the energy management centre (EMC) and Kerala State Electricity …
Concern Over High Mercury Content, Absence Of Recycling Spent CFLs may be polluting the environment silently and causing a toxic hazard for kabadiwalas who handle such discarded bulbs. Despite a huge spike in the demand (about 30% in the last five years) for these energy-saving lamps, a recent survey by …
