Pesticides And Toxins
Young India’s Bhopal challenge
The Bhopal question has one more angle: why was there so much public and media outrage over this 25-year-old issue? Why did the national media focus on this story, which till now had been consigned to the backrooms where only noisy environmental activists live?
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.
Toxic toys
We generally take toys for granted but this may no longer be the case atleast not if we are concerned about the health of our young children.
Lead in paints
Modern houses are full of harmful chemicals. One of them is lead, present in paints. Though several countries have banned the use of this substance India is yet to do so, which is why paint makers use them. Inhaling lead dust while performing mundane chores like opening or closing windows is the most common source of lead poisoning. The human body is not designed to process lead. Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead as it can damage the central nervous system and the brain.
Pesticide regulations
Pesticides are widely used in agriculture without paying much heed to the consequences of its unregulated and indiscriminate use . This fact has been known to our policy makers for nearly five decades. The government is atleast under law supposed to regulate its use. The Insecticides Act of 1971 is a key piece of legislation that is supposed to govern the use, manufacture, distribution, sale and transport of insecticides with a view to lowering risks to human and animal health.
Continuing nightmare in Bhopal: CSE laboratory tests soil, water samples from Union Carbide
Links toxins to production processes of plant.
Bhopal, December 1, 2009: For more than 25 years, the Union Carbide (UCIL) factory has been contaminating the land and water of Bhopal. Latest tests show that groundwater in areas even three km away from the factory contains almost 40 times more pesticides than Indian standards.
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