India
Mercury: Heavy Toxin
Mercury is a very toxic and dangerous substance. It is poisonous in all forms - inorganic, organic or elemental. Mercury is a proven neurotoxin. Inhaling mercury vapours can severely damage the respiratory tract. Sore throat, coughing, pain or tightness in the chest, headache, muscle weakness, anorexia, gastrointestinal disturbance, fever, bronchitis and pneumonitis are symptoms of mercury toxicity. Health concerns should be reason enough for us to properly manage its imports and disposal. On the contrary, mercury has come to severely contaminate land, water, air and the food chain throughout India.
A climate change for the artisan
Will demand for eco-friendly foods means a decline in artisnal skills?
by Sudhansu Das, journalist and writer, Pune
Bank at your doorstep
Technology is helping public sector banks find customers in rural India. This is part of the Centre's efforts to include villages in the organised financial system; to ensure they are not cheated of their wages. Pilots show promise
Common science
A website helps people observe and understand nature while gathering scientific data
by Sumana Narayanan
If there is a neem or jamun tree in your backyard, check it regularly and note down when they flower and fruit. You may soon realise you are collecting data for scientific research.
The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), a research body in Bengaluru, plans to rope in people for creating an online database on the lifecycle of various plant species across the country and on the influence of climate change on them.
Bt brinjal: a CSE update
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has come out in support of the verdict on Bt-brinjal given here today by Jairam Ramesh, minister of state (independent charge) for environment and forests.
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Listen to Pushpa M Bhargava's, interviewThe US and us
Visiting the US, one thing came home to me: the country has very little political will to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Policy makers and media professionals talk about the climate change crisis. But any opinion on cutting emissions, based on historical or even current responsibility, is just dismissed. The public perception, seemingly carefully nurtured, is it is runaway pollution in China and India that will devastate the world. Indeed, talk about serious action by the US is hushed up, for it will play into the hands of the Republicans.
2010: choose your future today
A new decade. For me, three decades of work in environment. I wonder: have matters improved since the early 1980s, when I began? Or, are things worse off? Where do we go from here?
Toys
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| Press Release | |
| January 15, 2010 The trouble with toys… Latest CSE study finds high levels of toxic phthalates in children’s toys in India Read more... |
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| Lab Report | |
| :: Phthalates in Toys | |
| :: Details of the samples of toys tested by CSE |
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| Fact Sheet | |
| :: Regulations | |
| :: Health Implications | |
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| Presantation | |
| :: Toxic Toys | |
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 DTE Cover story
Hand to mouth |
CSE Lab Report: Phthalates in Toys
Delhi NGO Centre for Science and Environment tested 24 toy samples of major brands for the presence of phthalates. In October 2008, it randomly purchased toy samples from markets in Delhi. Fifteen were soft toys and nine hard toys made in four countries. Tests showed all samples contained one or more phthalates— DEHP, DINP, DBP ( di-n-butyl phthalate) and BBP (benzyl butyl phthalate), all harmful—in varying concentrations.
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