Affidavit filed by the 5th applicant pursuant to the direction of the National Green Tribunal dated 13/03/2023 in Original Application No. 442/2013. A number of application's were filed by residents of Brahmapuram, Ernakulam district right from 2012 for the closing down of Brahmapuram waste disposal facility. In addition, they requested …
It’s a Catch-22 situation. How does one rate an industry where the pollution is minimal at the production plant and peaks the moment the product leaves the factory gates? How does one rate an industry that is the mother of all chemical industries? How does one rate an industry that …
safe inside the warm womb of the mother, a child kicks and turns. This is the third time that Sarah Connell is pregnant, but she has never reached her second trimester of pregnancy. She aborted twice earlier. This time she has moved houses, cleaned up her home, and taken every …
Waterborne diseases, caused by the intake of chemicals and contaminated water, affects around 3.4 million people globally. In India, around 563,000 people are affected annually, one fourth of which are children, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare. Water gets contaminated due to sewage from households, industrial …
Indians are at great risk of lifestyle diseases. Inactivity alone claims two million lives globally every year, warns a recently-published who report. Indians, particularly the younger generation, are increasingly facing problems due to overweight, blood pressure, stress, high cholesterol and diabetes, all of which are a fallout of physical inactivity. …
Some chemicals can affect brain development and function. They also have serious effect on children's learning and behavioural abilities. Compared to other organs, the human brain develops over a long period of time
Open the recent National Human Development Report (nhdr), or any glossy document of the World Bank and its ilk, and it will reveal how the world is a much better place. Death rates have declined, people live longer, fewer children are dying and incomes are increasing. Of course, forget the …
Paediatricians are worried about rising cancer rates among children. Like Anupam Sachdeva and A K Dutta, head of department of paediatrics at Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi. They have been witness to a rise in the incidences of brain cancer and acute lymphocytic leukaemia, commonly found among children. In …
Smug and surging If the annual plastic consumption in India rose by as little as one kilogramme per capita, the total demand would increase by about one million tonnes. The plastic industry looks forward to encashing this market potential. High profits and increasing demand ensure it grows exponentially "It took …
While the Indian government appeases the plastic industry, other countries have gone ahead and seen to it that the plastic industry owns up responsibility for its products. They have ably used extended producer responsibility (epr) to get the industry to clean up its act. A select group of countries have …
a new food crisis resembling the dioxin scare has cropped up in Belgium after carcinogenic chemicals were found in chicken feed. While allaying public fears, Belgian health officials have extended their search to the makers of the ingredients for the feed given by a compounder in the western Flemish town …
protests against waste incineration are sweeping Spain. Highlighting the health risks related to emission of dioxins and furans due to waste incineration, the anti-incineration campaigners expressed their angst outside 12 cement-works and municipal waste incinerators recently. The new wave of concern has emerged due to the recent growth in concentration …
What is the latest information on adverse health effects of diesel exhaust? Over 200 epidemiological studies conducted in different geographical locations of the world have shown a significant and consistent association between diesel emissions and increased deaths and cardio-respiratory illnesses such as heart attacks and strokes, allergies, asthma, bronchitis and …
An endocrine disrupter is a synthetic chemical which, when absorbed by the body, interferes with normal hormone function. This undermines intelligence, decreases resistance to disease and impairs reproduction. These chemicals include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, pesticides and phthalates which cause a range of problems
even as the controversy generated by Gujarat's highly polluting Alang shipbreaking yard refuses to die down, Andhra Pradesh is clearing the decks for a similar unit to be located in its fragile coastal belt. The proposal for the yard at Vodarevu near Chirala of Prakasam district was given the technical …
The US government agency has reported that toxic materials are continuing to be released from the smouldering wreckage of the World Trade Centre (WTC) Even after a month of the terrorist attack, carcinogenic benzene was found to be 58 times higher, at one site close to ground zero, than the …
To put it in a nutshell, the factors that have contributed to the lack of development of organic market in India include low awareness about the perils of chemically farmed products, high prices of organic produce, lack of consumer confidence in organic food standards and their erratic supply. Smritee Singh, …
The government's interventions have focused on promoting certified organic production, missing out the challenge of using the organic route to reward traditional, marginal farmers. This misplaced priority seems to be changing. A master plan for the production of organic coffee is almost ready. Formulated by the coffee board, the plan …
Dioxins are among the deadliest chemicals known to humans. These chemicals are by-products of industrial processes. They dissolve readily in oils, fats and non-polar solvents. These chemicals are not volatile and are extremely persistent. Since dioxins are fat-soluble, they bioaccumulate up the food chain. dioxin compounds are transported through the …
