Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
Epidemiological studies were conducted in pesticide exposed agricultural workers along with an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls. All the 200 exposed volunteers were suffering from fever, nausea, headache and other abnormal symptoms and visited the hospital for general health check-up. These cases were taken up for more detailed …
Women are more at risk of contracting avian flu than men, states the Egyptian health ministry. The statement came after an appraisal of the gender ratio of avian flu infected people in the country. Most avian flu deaths in the country were found to be among women and a total …
Assam is the highest tea producer state in the country. There is scarcity of reliable information on health and nutritional status among tea garden population of Assam to enable initiating public health response to their health needs.
another attempt to bring chrysotile, the most common form of asbestos, under the prior informed consent list (pic) of the Rotterdam Convention has failed. Parties to this international treaty governing trade in toxic substances met in Geneva between October 10 and 13, 2006. But they couldn't agree on adding chrysotile …
In its June 2006 conference in Geneva, the International Labour Organization adopted a resolution: "Considering that all forms of asbestos including chrysotile...are classified as known human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer
the Gujarat government is planning to set up a water regulatory commission to monitor and regulate water supply and sewerage services, rationalise tariffs, curb subsidies and promote water conservation, as envisioned in the Gujarat Water Regulatory Commission Bill (gwrcb), 2006. The bill is expected to bring clarity to the roles …
the past month has been bad for activists and groups fighting big industry and trying to jam the levers they control. In Geneva, the Canadian government put its weight behind the chrysotile (white) asbestos lobby to derail a multilateral process. They successfully managed to keep white asbestos out of the …
Supreme Court had set up a high-level committee of technical experts to examine the working conditions at the Alang shipbreaking yard, Asia's biggest shipbreaking yard. The committee, headed by Prodipto Ghosh, secretary, Union ministry of environment and forests, submitted its report early this month, pinning the blame of poor workers' …
While promoting computer literacy and Internet access in developing countries, multinational technology companies are inadvertently contributing to a public health crisis. Several initiatives backed with billions of dollars in new investments, are focused on getting the Internet to one billion new computers in remote villages without access to electricity. Companies …
evidence has been found of pesticide exposure in small children (1-6 year olds) of farm-workers in the us, say researchers at the Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Led by Thomas Arcury, the scientists say that their study conducted among immigrant farm-workers across six North Carolina counties confirmed the exposure …
TEA from the Darjeeling hills are among the most celebrated varieties in the country. Combination of geo-environmental and agro-climatic conditions in the region makes production favourable for the tea industry, which has been producing tea for over 150 years now. But the industry is fraught with problems, which are affecting …
In urban areas there is an explosive growth of population and the number of automobiles. The ever-increasing vehicular traffic density is posing continued threat to the ambient air quality. Traffic policemen as a group of workers are exposed occupationally to the pollutants from vehicular exhaust. Sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) as …
Gujarat promotes asbestosthe Gujarat government is keen on promoting the asbestos industry in the state despite worldwide ban due to increased health risks. Recently, it has given approval to a Pune-based asbestos-cement sheets manufacturing company, the New Sahyadri Industries Ltd (nsil), which will set up its unit at Mahuvej village …
Farmers in Kenya have demanded that the government should force tobacco companies to give them protective clothing since they risked contracting lung and skin diseases. The lack of aprons, nose-masks and gloves puts the farmers at a health risk. Some tobacco companies are mobilising against possible regulation, while others are …
A cross-sectional epidemiological survey of 255 individuals (130 current permanent employees, 64 contract workers, 55 ex-employees and 6 scrap dealers) coupled with a retrospective cohort study of the occupational health of 290 employees (all permanent employees who ever worked in the factory over a span of 15 years) was conducted …
How hazardous is dismantling a decommissioned ship? It does have dangerous substances like asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) and spent oil. Who should be allowed to engage in shipbreaking? What rules exist to ensure the safety of labour involved in dismantling ships and the environment? A brief recap is essential for …
Although the media is focused on the health impact of asbestos on the workers who would dismantle Le Clemenceau, here is the bigger picture: India imported Rs 22.7 crore and Rs 32.8 crore worth of fabricated asbestos fibres and asbestos friction materials in 2003-04 and 2004-05, respectively. The occupational health …
Regardless of the amount of hazardous asbestos contained in Le Clemenceau, India imports thousands of tonnes of asbestos and asbestos products every year. Asbestos is imported to India in three categories: • Articles of asbestos cement; • Fabricated asbestos fibres; and • Friction material and articles thereof with a basis …
Makrana, a small town in Rajasthan, is best known for the pristine white marble that went into the construction of that great monument of love, the Taj Mahal. However, it now attracts attention more for the deaths in the marble quarries. On an average, five to seven people die, or …
This paper discusses both occupational health risks to workers and environmental health risks to residents and workers. Because worker exposure times are shorter than resident exposure times, some risks may be less for workers than for residents. On the other hand, contaminant levels to which workers are exposed can be …
