Pesticides And Toxins

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.

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.

BIS agrees Phthalates are harmful

The BIS agrees that there is a need to regulate the use of phthalates in toys. The BIS stated this in a response to the Bombay High Court on Feb 24th 2011.

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 1968 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.

BIS agrees Phthalates are harmful

The BIS agrees that there is a need to regulate the use of phthalates in toys. The BIS stated this in a response to the Bombay High Court on Feb 24th 2011. The court was hearing a PIL filed by the Consumers Welfare Association in 2007, seeking action against the sale of toxic toys in India. The Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud in September last year, asked the BIS to respond to central government's suggestions on the need to regulate the use of phthalates in toys.

BIS agrees Phthalates are harmful

The BIS agrees that there is a need to regulate the use of phthalates in toys. The BIS stated this in a response to the Bombay High Court on Feb 24th 2011. The court was hearing a PIL filed by the Consumers Welfare Association in 2007, seeking action against the sale of toxic toys in India. The Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud in September last year, asked the BIS to respond to central government's suggestions on the need to regulate the use of phthalates in toys.

Endosulfan: Another Kasaragod

By:  Savvy Soumya Misra

Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in December announced that his government would consider banning endosulfan. The highly toxic pesticide is banned in over 70 countries.

Centre to study endosulfan effect

By: Savvy Soumya Misra

The Union environment ministry has proposed a five member expert committee to study the ill-effects of endosulfan. Union minister of state for environment, Jairam Ramesh, announced the panel after meeting Kerala forest minister Benoy Viswam on November 1.

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?