ENVIRONMENT HEALTH
Item
- Title
- ENVIRONMENT HEALTH
- extracted text
-
RF_E_3_PART_2_SUDHA
£ - 1Page 1 of 12
Main idariiiiy
rrom:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
ramdas rao” <ramdas_rao@liotmail.com>
<bangaloresoiidarrty@yahoogroups.com>; <dhanaraju42@yahoo.co.in>; <jeeves@vsnl.com>:
<kamaan@rediffmail.com>; <meera_c@vsnl.net>; <puclblr@yahoogroups.com>;
<radhar4@yahoo.com>; <alazon@rediffmail.com>; <rajsundarak@vsnl.net>;
<das@iiap.emet.in>; <manasapathrike@yahoo.co.in>; <manohar@sangamaonline.org>;
<mansur_humanrights@yahoo.com- ; <nagaragererarnesh@yahoo.com>;
<nbabaiah@yahoo.co.in>; <nilanjanabiswas@yahoo.com>; <pinakic@physics.iisc.ernet.in>;
<ramdas_rao@hotmail.com>; <shivasundar35@rediffmail.com>; <sreedhara@vsni.net>;
<vasuhv@rediffmaiLcom>
Sunday, January 04 2004 7:45 AM
[bangaloresolidarity] FW: [PUCL] Digest Number 284
r
> Date: Wed. 31 Dec 2003 18:45:08 -0000 (GMT)
> From: ”C. R. Bijoy"
>Subject: Appeal from Kashipur - Struggle against mining/MNCs
>PRAKRUTIK SAMPAD SURAKSHYA PARISHAD (P. S. S. P.)
>KUCHEIPADAR, KASHIPUR, RAYAGADA- 765015 (ORISSA, INDIA)
>Dear Friend,
Date; 30/12/03
>We the people of Kashipur, Orissa have been struggling against the bauxite
>mining companies and the state for last 8-9 years and today we want to
>bring certain facts of gross violation of human rights in our land.
>Our land is full of bauxite. Bauxite is useful for aluminium. Now a days
>aluminium is used for making missiles, bombs, war weapons. This would help
11 is
>to cause so many Iraq, Afghanistan in future. Besides this, aluminium
>useful for aero planes, food packages and cokes. Companies want profit.
>They want to make profit out of our land. They want to throw us from our
>1and.
XDur government has joined its hand with these murderer companies. Once
II
>firing took place on 16th December,
2000 at Maikancha and three people
>died in the firing. But we have not yet left our land. We know that if we
>leave our land we will die. Why should we be the victims of an unrighteous
II
>development?
>Just after the firing because of a lot of pressure from our sympathizers
>thc Orissa government
-constitutes a judiciary Commission appointing justice P.K. Mishra. The
II
>Mishra Commission
niii
has given it report. It is the matter
shocking that
>though the Commission has said “it was not necessary for the police force
>to go inside the village. Having gone they should have maintained almost
Restraint in dealing with the situation”. The Commission has concluded
>4tthc action of police in assaulting two tribal women had the effect of
ii the
^ma
it gnifying the tension”. The allegation that there was a firing from
>side of villagers, which had damaged a police jeep, was not accepted by
1/5/04
Page 2 of 12
>thc Commission. The Commission has included that grossly excessive force
ii
>had been used. The Magistrate had merely
given the order for firing which
>“was not necessary7”. Even after
lllTlI
ill ill
>ihal the Commission
has not recommended
any action against the person held
Responsible for their acts of commission and omission in the firing which
>is against the natural justice. (For more, you sec the attachment)
>Not only that the Commission has felt “the extraction of bauxite need not
>have any significant adverse impact on the environment, particularly
Relating to protection of water” and gave green signal for establishment
>of the Utkal Aluminium Plant (joint venture of Hindalco of India and Alcan
>01 Canada) which is again our wishes. We have not yet accepted such step
>of the government and several times we have communicated it to the
>govcmmcnt making rally, dharna, and road blockade and also through
>Gramsabha several times.
ITH
>We feel that the recommendations of Judiciary commission
has come from the
Xomnanv’s quarter and in stead of giving justice according to the law of
>this country’ the Commission has not only acquitted the persons who arc
Illi
II
Responsible for iking but also welcomed
the establishment
of plant in our
>land. The state cabinet has accepted all these recommendations. We
>apprehend that more Iking could take place in our areas to force us to
II
Recent the company.
>We request that all our friends who have stood with us in our difficult
>timc to exert pressure on the state government (writing to: Navccn
>Pattnaik, Chief Minister, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar, Orissa E-mail:
Hill
mil
>cmo($ori.nic.in) for cancellation of recommendations
of the Commission
and
Cancellation of the MOU with the bauxite mining companies and punish its
>oilicers and political leaders who arc responsible in the Iking .
>You should also write to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court, (Justice V.N.
ii
>Khare, Chief Justice, Supreme
Court of India, New Delhi-1) against the
>Mishra Commission ?How a Justice could give such type of conclusions?
>This is also not healthy sign for all people who are struggling like us
ii of this land specifically in the era of
>and also in justice system
liberalization and privatization.
>Hope you will do this and forward a copy of your action to us.
>Yours,
>
>Bhagaban Maj hi
>Convenor. Praknitik Samnad Surakshya Parishad (PSSP)
>Kuchcipadar, Kashipur, Rayagada, Orissa.
>Phone: 06856-224012 (PP)
>
Attachments:
>A letter to the Chief Minister, Orissa/ Chief Justice,
>Supreme Court, India
>Synopsis of the findings and recommendations of Mishra Commission Report
>Fact sheet of the Kashipur Struggle
>
>
1/5/04
Page 3 of 12
>P.S. : write to US if you feci more people should be requested for this
Signature campaign
>
>
>**$*$*****$
>To,
>The Chief Minister, Bhubaneswar Orissa I Chief Justice, Supreme Court,
>Indi a, New Delhi
>
>Subject: Cancellation of recommendations of Justice Mishra Co HIM ission and
>punishment of guilty officers in the firing
>Dcar Sir,
>
>We have been associated with the ongoing Kashipur struggle for a long lime
>and we were shocked when we heard the police firing in 2000 at Maikancha.
>How a struggle for livelihood could be targeted as a law and order
>problcm?
>
>In the mean time the Justice Mishra Commission’s recommendations on the
>firing has been accepted by your government. It is a matter of shocking
>that when entire world knows the police and administration are
Responsible for the firing how the Commission has acquitted all
Responsible officers. Also the Commission has recommended for
Establishment of the
>plant Here wo all concerned citizens of this country condemn the firing
>and recommendations of the Commission. It is not a good sign in the
justice system of this country.
>
>Forceful entry' of Mining companies including MNCs will not solve the
>prcblcm of this country' rather will enhance the problem.
>
>So we demand that all responsible officers should be punished and the
>memorandum signed with the company should be cancelled.
>
>Yours
>
in
>Name
and Address/ E-Mail
Signature
>
>
>
^SYNOPSIS
>Governmenl ol Orissa
>Home Department
>CABINET MEMORANDUM
>1. Three persons had died in police firing on 16.12.2000 in village
>Maikanch of Kashipur Police
>Station in the district of Rayagada. All the persons who died were members
Ef Scheduled Tribe. Several others were injured by the firing.
>2. Considering its seriousness, the Government of Orissa had ordered an
1/5/04
Page 4 of 12
Notification No. 496/C, dated 20.01.2000. Under Section 3 read with
^Section 5 (1) of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 was issued,
^appointing a Commission of Inquiry consisting of Justice P.K.Mishra, then
>a Sitting Judge of High Court. Orissa. The terms of reference of inquiry
"■
produced as below:
>
i. Analysis of the sequence of events leading to the police firing
En the 16th December, 2000;
>2. Whether measures taken, and quantum of force used, in anticipating
>preventing and
^handling situations were adequate, inadequate or in excess of the
Requirement and the responsibility for such acts of commission or
Emission:
>3. The role, conduct and responsibility of organizations, groups of
individuals or persons, if
>any, in influencing, precipitating or escalating the incident and
>4. Any other matter connected with or incidental there to as (he inquiring
Euthoritv mav
>
consider appropriate, including any suggestions, in relation to such
ii
Rnatter.
”
>3. Commission took cognizance of the matter on 01.03.2001. It visited the
>spot on 08.03.2001 in the presence of Collector, Superintendent of Police,
>Rayagada Chief Judicial Magistrate (Joint Secretary of Commission),
>Rayagada and local inhabitants. Notices were published in newspapers
R’nviting filing of affidavits and other papers / documents on or before
>20th April, 2001. In all 108 affidavits were fields on different dates.
>The exammation of affidavits had
Revealed allegations against many persons. Consequently, the Commission
>had issued notices under Section 8 (B) of (he Act io several persons
>likely to be affected prejudicially by the inquiry. 32 witnesses were
Examined several documents, field as annexure to the affidavits and as
Exhibits, were aiso examined by the Commission.
>4. The first sitting of the Commission had taken place at Kashipur on
>02.05.2001 subsequently, number of sittings had taken place at Rayagada
>Cuttack.
>5. After all the evidences were recorded, the Commission had on
>29.07.2002 visited the village of Maikanch, Baphilimali (mining area),
>Nuagaon and Kuchcipadar. Similarly, after hearing oral submissions and
>filing of written submissions the Commission had visited Bauxite mines of
ii
NALCO at Damonjodi
and had held discussions with the company
officials to
•Ju
>have an idea of Bauxite mining operations and its effect on the
Hili
n
Environment and the neighborhood. The Commission
had submitted
his report
structured alone the lines of terms of references on 17th January.
2003.
J
mit
>6. The report of the Commission
and its conclusions arc briefly
>described as below.
>6.1. Sequence of Events leading to the police firing on 16th December, 2000:
>*A’ private sector company in the name and style of Ulkal Alumina
>Industries Limited
ii
(UAIL) was formed in 1993 for establishing an alumina
Refinery plant new Domba-korala in Kashipur. It was granted a lease for
Extracting bauxite from Baphilimali hills in Kashipur Police Station area
>of Rayagada district. Muth—of protests were raised to this grant of lease
>by some local organizations. Subsequently when the process of acquisition
iTii
Efland commenced, the protest against establishment
of the industry
>galhered momentum with the encouragement and support of some social
'
4
1/5/04
Page 1 of 6
Main identity
From:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
<prayasct@sanchamet in>
"Sunaararaman" <cerd@satyam.nei.in>; “pha-ncc" <pha-ncc@yanoogroups.com>; "PHM Secretariat” <secretariat@phmovementorg>; "Abhay Shukla” <abhayseema@vsnl.com>
Sunday January 04, 2004 7:20 PM
[pha-ncc] attachment incomplete
dear vr. T. sundaraiaman
new year greetings to you.
many thanks for your mail, the attachment that you’ve sent about the latest IHF
schedule (as on
initial -r— • * pages are blank so please send
utS uiie rarest schedule dice agaxii. another request is that uiifortunately we have
lose rhe mails in our inbox, thus we request you to please also send us rhe ihh’
registration form once again.
thanking you
warm regards
pallavi gupta
co-ordmator
prayas
-- 2 .. 4 ... -1
-------------------------------- UX-lCjlhaX
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Sub: International Health Forum ( for Defense of Peoples Health)- conference on 14th
- 15th -- pre -WSF conference organised by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and Peoples Health
Movement International
Registration fee Rs 100. Accomodation at Dharmshala- Rs 200 per day.Venue YMCA
internatioanl hall, ( see address and details of how to reach below).
Dear Friends,
•F’Jnrj sttacbisd th?
for ths IHF* confsrsncs. Participants front 42
coimtrLGS haV’S corifS-LTuGcI — tsstixyZLn^ to tPio ooi'itiriuocl STu&xCjorxco of the
international peoples health movement . We hope to follow up this conference with
concrfir.fi action plans both programme r. 1 ca I I y and organisationally both at national
and international level. Please make sure that vour state is fully represented with
all the r>artners having due representation . Do not miss the opportunity.Tf for
some reason you are unable to send 15 from the state do let us know at once so that
we can pass the quota to some other state which needs it. We have been cutting down
on some states requests as we are naving to limit the conference to 60u
participants. So please please let us know if less than 15 are coming.
As has been circulated earlier, the norm is 15 persons per state, so if more than
this number are coming, it is especially important that you inform immediately, to
ensure that accommodation can be arranged and there is space . Similarly, National
networks (e.g. CHAT, CMAT) should also please inform about total number of
participants coming from their network (who are not included in state contingents),
and whether they require accommodation. Individuals are also permitted to register
directly but please
do it as soon as possible.
1. All State coordinators / state nodal persons snouid definitely inform aoout the
total number of persons coming from their state, and how many will require
accommodation, LATEST BY 8TH JANUARY. Please send in the number of participants
from your slate, lo Sarojini samasaro@vsnl.com with copies of the mail lo
Sundararaman sundar2@123india.com and both the PHM secretariat
1/5/04
Page 2 of 6
Piease also ensure tnat tinea IHF registration forms are sent to Sarojini oy e?nail or by post, to help planning.
2.. For Indian participants in IHF, two large Dharamshalas have been arranged at
a short distance from the venue (YMCA) . These will be available from lAf uua.
onwaras. Arrangements have also been made rox local transport, irom uanaramsnaia uo
THF venue and back. The partly subsidised cost ot arrangements is as hollows:
From 13th to 15th Jan., for IHF participants, accommodation, breakfast
and dinner and local transport
to and from venue will be available at a rate of Rs.
••
200 per person per day. This includes lunch at the IHF venue on 14th and 15th.
trom loth Jan. morning onwards, the same Dharamshalas will remain
available to individuals who would be continuing for WSF. The cost of accommodation
will be Rs. 125 per dav, while persons can avail of reasonably priced food near the
Dharamshalas or al Lhe WSF venue.
Please note that the WSF venue at Goregaon is at a significant distance from the
Dharamsnalas (about one and half hour travel by taxis and local train). We will try
to make bus travel arrangements for WSF but this depends on number of persons who
will be staying on in the Dharamshalas.
TT...
X1OW
A. .
..___
J-UG^x
11’1 G DIxcl L" ciTiis! a dldS 1
ihe olace co reach is Neman i Wadi Dharamshala. Thakurdwar road
off Charni Road (East), Mumbai
Contact person:
Mr Ramavatar Sharma
0
To reach this place, if you are coming by Western Railway (from Gujarat / ,
Rajasthan / Delhi), get off from the train at Mumbai Central station and .take a
taxi to C.P. Tank naka.
If you are coming by Central Railway (that is trains from most other states, which
culminate at Mumbai CST or Kurla stations) then vou
have two options.
•a
ci.
The cheaper option is to get
at Radar, arid walk to the Western side of
Radar station and take a LOCAL TRAIN on Western line, to Charni Road. Then get off
ar. Charni road station, ger. our. on r.he RAST side and take a short taxi ride to C.P.
Tank naka.
C
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House,
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1/5/04
Page 3 of 6
Mumbai Central (East)
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_______________ _ •*
From:
“Ruchita Khurana” <ruchita@toxicslinK.org>
"Jayakumar" <thanal@md4.¥sn!.net.in>: <tarumitra@vsnl.com>: <econet@axess.com>:
<janvikas@axess.com>; "PSS" <pss@narmada.o6i.in>; <ics@bnpl com>:
<0k2anet@y2h0.c0.uk>; <sarangi__rk@rediffmaii.com>
To:
iQuTiaii.corn>: <sGGhara@vsi <1.con > . cludani
■'•K'di ii icii
ntanu
i
iii> >6.001 «t>.
<pravah@ndi.vsni. net. in>: <wasie@operamail.com>; <sctripathi@redifrmaii.com>.
<cailshiv@hQtmaii.com>: <ceesouth@vsnl com>
"Tt iQ.rd-'i: / MrvwornKor
I U^OVJG- *7, I
7^zi | lk/\^i
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Do we have riqht to safe food? - invitation to the Pane! Discussion on.November 19, 2003
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oale iood is a basic need llial 15 kuidaiiienial io out health. However. ui India. these tuncL'arieiira! necessities
have been taken for U-^ranted for too leno-,
even a? the threat? to them have multiplied.
Do we know how safe
OX
our food 1’3?
A? citizen? and taxoaver?
we have a rip-ht to exoect
cur government to make Xorotectinp
the health and well
1
✓
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*-?
beingv-* of residents its top
priority.
Yet for vears
tl government n
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•
.
•■
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promotion or environmenta;
i’erme of investment m infrastructure, better enfo
*
"
education,
io tne dcirnuciit ol escrvoiic*17*^
’^ iicaiui.
The direct economic and health losses suffered, bv farmers and the genera! public following a peliution-rdated
iieallli scare mgiiughis i.iie fkalurc io address ciivirojuiieiiiaj problem:* al its source is a ialse ecoiioiitv.
Corporations m India pav scant regard to cur health and quality of food we consume.
These problems arc easily preventable through investment m euviroiinieiiial mDasiructure. unproved ieciinical
measures, better enforcement of existing regulation? and better education.
The present hie and hcal'di-ihreaiciinig situation cannot be tolerated for long. The polic\ decisions on sectors
such a? indusrrv & agriculture,
should ensure
that the effects of those decision? wcrK tor.* rather than against.
CJ
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•
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environmental and health policies.
In the recent times, we have come to Know as to how our toed safetv* ha? been comoromised.
1 hese problem?
X
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f~o <~“
C4.VX_\^
stem from poor environmental quality and hygiene standards. Indiscriminate use of pesticides ha? S- x/l-4 *tU-l.kUi
our food chain. Th? spread of pathogens is also an issue whicli deserves attention.
Citizens have a riaht to safe environmental and public health. But government and corporation? seem, to have
forgotten mat human health is non-negotiable. Tve have invited an eminent panel to disease:
,i1
r
c
i*»
Do we haye ngnt to sate loodr
Panelists:
. IVLr. S. rCsgam. acor.o.aic Adviser.. -'.Limatry ot C-cmmerce and Incmstrv
Mr. Sudhir Rahi, ]oini Director, Bureau of Indian Standards
Dr. T. K. Tosh?, Director, Centre tor Occupational and Environ mental Health, LN]P Ho--pir.d.
Moderated bv N'fr. ttavi AgaiwaL Director. Toxics Link.
Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Center, Lodhi RoridL Yew Delhi
ix
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Liiilc. uidv p.iii.
(in collaboration ivitb India intenianonai Center)
Pagez oi2
H-2 Jungpura Extr..
Ground Floor. Now Dulin - 11G 014
Ph: +91 11 2432 0711. 2432 8006
Fax: +91 11 2432 1747
Email - ruchita(®,toxicslink.ora
■—
—
11 19.03
fwrdn
id^niiiv<
----- -
’
rrom:
Judah rxichtei” <judith.nchterx@attgiobai.net>
"Ravi Naravan*1 <sochara(G)vsnl com>- Lias LhotSKa" <liaa inotsKsrajarfs on>‘ “Mana H-mnn
Zuniga” <iphc@cab!enet.com.ni>; ’’Beryl Leach” ^haiaf.r!ca@sLricaon’ine cc ke>: ’’A'ison
To:
Unnecar” <alisdn.linnecar@gifa org>
Cc:
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Subject:
FvV December E-News Activism on Inal
JL>V«1 11 1V11VIO.
✓
I just wanted to draw you aueutiou to the item winch I cut out of the
Eaniuighis Newsletter. Not necessarily to make you read it - we did
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ior a good
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----- Original Message----from: Kale at LariliKighis LnicniauOiiat
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Subject: December E-News: Sarayaku action alert. Activism on trial.
AMVVi. O
Ml’v
Lartiirkiglits InlejiiaiiOi iai
December E-Newsletter
xxxx
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' ACtlViSii’i Oil trial
hi an unprecedented prosecution, the U.S. Justice Departmem has indicted
Cneenpeace - not just a few Greenpeacers. btii the entire organization - ior
the peacefiil protest activities of its members. IfthrsprosecuiiorTisU~~~
succossnn. it will marie a sea change in inc histoid' not umy
environ mental activism
Hur
non-vioient civil disobedience
fphernliy.
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Chapter 12_________________
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL
INTERPRETATION OF
ENDOCRINE DISRUPTION
IN CHILDREN
Elizabeth A. Guillette
Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
The first words uttered by parents after the birth of a child reflect their concerns
about normalcy. "Is my child all right?" The reply is based on the gross anatomy
of having five fingers and five toes, or other normal external features. The hidden
internal anatomy and physiological function are unknown. As scientists, we rec
ognize that harmony in external features does not guarantee conformity in
internal functioning. This fact grows in importance as environmental contami
nation becomes increasingly widespread. The possibility of covert effects of
endocrine-disrupting contaminants (EDCs), which may have an immediate or
delayed internal influence on the child’s overall health, have only recently
emerged, although gross teratogenic defects have been associated with such
EDCs as dioxin and certain herbicides (Sherman, 1995). The purpose of this
chapter is to present what is suspected and known about EDCs as obstructing
normal childhood physiology and functioning, and to place this knowledge
within a framework applicable to all types of EDC research.
Introduction
^Other sections of this book reflect on the interactions of evolutionary responses
to
environment and how EDC contamination has not allowed sufficient
Time for a protective evolutionary response to develop for most vertebrates.
Temporally, evolutionary responses occur very slowly in humans, reflecting a
322
I
Endocrine Disruption in Children
323
long reproductive cycle between generations. On the other hand, cultural evo
lution has occurred at a more rapid pace. Marked technological change has
occurred in the western culture over the last hundred years and is increasing
rapidly. Developing countries, taking benefit of industrial and agricultural
advances, have experienced marked technological change in a inatter of
decades. The children of today are a product of this cultural evolution as much*
as they are of biological evolution. As with biological evolution, cultural evolu
tion serves as provocation for continuing action and reaction in future!
generations. We act and react according to the preceding changes that have
occurred, both on an individual level and on a global level.
More ancestral vertebrates are not excluded from this process of "moderniza
tion." Specific aspects of both biological evolution and social organization are
tied to various aspects of human cultural evolution and social change. Foremost
are the pressures from human-induced ecological change and habitat compres
sion. Other diverse factors affecting both animal and human welfare include
pressures from population growth, social, economic, and political influences,
plus access to the basic necessities of life. Correspondingly, we must remember
that an event occurring locally may eventually have a global impact (i.e., the
destruction of rain forests). Evolutionary factors are .also a two-way street,
reflecting the evolutionary interdependence of animal and plant life. Changes in
biodiversity are known to lead to previously innocuous insects becoming devas
tating pests. Zoological and botanical change and/or extinction can easily feed
back into the quality and quantity of human life (Epstein et al., 1997). Thus, the
assessment of the impact of EDCs must be placed in a holistic, global context,
with recognition of the magnitude of events that are capable of shaping the
future for both animal offspring and our own children.
Reproductive Rights
i
The early unsettling hints that EDCs may be disrupting the many loci in the
endocrine system are increasingly being accepted as reality. In light of the exten
sive scope of findings, both in animals and humans, the time has come to place
endocrine disruption in a broad-based framework in which to evaluate the
future of our children. The foundation of the framework lies in the reformula
tion of basic rights to reflect the need for sustainable existence, including
ongoing reproduction and productivity. Three basic prerogatives, based in terms
of reproductive rights to ensure the health and productivity of future children,
are necessary: (1) the right to a healthy body for pregnancy and parenting, (2)
the right to impregnate or become pregnant when a child is desired, and (3) the
right to have the expectation that one’s children will be able to express these
same reproductive rights without physical or mental liabilities leading to restric
tions (Guillette, 1997). Such rights, as stated, decrease the emphasis on the
traditional socjiobiological paradigm regarding the passage of genes and increase
4
324
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
emphasis on a continuation of normal physiological function and intellectual
prowess for all generations. Other chapters present what is known about EDCs
in relation to reproductive processes. I will discuss reproductive rights as they
apply to the children of today, integrated with thoughts on what is needed to
ensure that today’s generation can expect that future generations will have the
same reproductive rights.
The course of the future will reflect the mental status, as well as the physical
status, of today's children beginning with their conception' and continuing
throughout life. The healthy child is defined as bom free of contaminationinduced defects and who has no greater risk of exhibiting pathology later in life,
either in terms of disease or dysfunction, than if never exposed to EDCs, and
who has the same, or greater, ability to reproduce in adulthood as his or her fore
fathers. Implied in this statement is the concept that the child will be mentally,
as well as physically, fit. With pressures to limit family size because of world
population growth and limited resources to care for an excessive number of
children with preventable pathology, it is of paramount importance that all chil
dren fall within this definition of "healthy.”
The Right to a Healthy Pregnancy
Worldwide fertility rates, reflecting the number of births per woman, dropped
for the first time in 1996 (Popline, 1997). Population control advocates assert
that the decrease reflects an increase in the use of contraception, particularly in
developing countries. Other factors are not generally considered. Unfortunately,
there is no systematized record of global infertility, but a few statistics are avail
able. In parts of sub-Saharan Africa—including Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon,
Zaire, and Babon—infertility rates range between 30% and 40% (Leke et al.,
1993). The underlying cause of most of the infertility is unknown. Sexually
transmitted disease accounts for only one-third of the cases. Pathology, such as
low sperm counts and endometriosis, has been identified in another third, con
ditions that have already been correlated with toxic exposures. The cause of
infertility in the remaining third is unknown, which may be reflective of pathol
ogy difficult to diagnosis (Leke et al., 1993). Abnormal ovarian morphology,
including polyovular follicles and polynuclear oocytes, is associated with alliga
tors and mice exposed to a number of EDC contaminants (Iguchi, 1992;
Guillett^, 1994; Guillette and Guillette, 1996). An accelerated onset of repro
ductive senescence following prenatal exposure to EDCs occurs in rodents,
although there is no comparable menopausal data for humans (Gray, 1991).The
relatively recent increase in infertility for the sub-Saharan African women
described above suggests that it is due to environmental change. Exposurp levels
in most sub-Saharan human populations, resulting from widespread use of pes
ticides—particularly DDT in coffee, tea, and cocoa plantations common to
these areas—has never been fully determined or documented.
Endocrine Disruption in Children
325
Problems with conception need not result from actual disease. Contamina
tion from exposure to microwaves, industrial chemicals, or pesticides are
associated with sexual disturbances. The problems range from decreased libido
to erectile and ejaculatory problems in males (Bancroft, 1993). The impact of
toxins on female sexual behavior is unknown (Bancroft, 1993). Many studies
have shown that when mothers are exposed to high levels of EDCs prior to or
with pregnancy, incidence of spontaneous abortion, prematurity, reduced birth
weights, and smaller head circumference increase, depending on the type of con
taminant exposure (Guo et al., 1993; Karmaus and Wolf, 1995; Guillette et al.,
1998). Thus, the EDC-related prenatal health status of the child is frequently
assumed to be a reflection of only the maternal exposures and cross-placental
transfer. This may not be totally accurate. Men exposed to pesticides through
farm work in India produced children with a 300% increase in congenital
defects and a 4-fold increase in neonatal de^th'.when compared to controls
(Rupa et al., 1991). However, neither the mother’s exposure nor the history of
grandparents was considered in this research. Children of dioxin-exposed
mothers continue to have significantly elevated dioxin blood levels 25 years
after birth (Schecter and Ryan, 1993). These children, now adult women, are in
a position to pass the same EDCs on to the third generation.
Other factors, resulting from cultural evolution but completely unrelated to
EDC or other toxic waste contamination, serve to further complicate the right
to a healthy pregnancy. The obvious ones of poor diet, alcohol, tobacco, and drug
use, poverty, and lack of prenatal medical care are generally considered when
evaluating the impact of contamination. We must equally consider psychosocial
stressors that impact the outcome of pregnancy. Such stressors may be observ
able. Loud, ambient noise levels at airports and at some industrial facilities have
been correlated with lower birth weights and reduced physical growth during
early childhood (Schell, 1997). Many of these same confounders complicating
human research apply to wildlife and the stresses of noise, poverty in terms of
limited habitat and food supplies, and disrupted social patterns of behavior
resulting from human intervention (Epstein et al., 1997). These various con
founding variables should no,t be allowed to become faults in research design.
Instead, recognition should be given to their absence or presence within the
studied and reference populations, along with the possible role of such factors in
pregnancy outcomes and health of the newborn. Comprehensive recognition of
all factors involved with pregnancy can provide strength to the correlative evi
dence relating EDCs to poor postnatal outcomes.
The Right to a Healthy Body for Parenting
It is beyond the scope of this chapter to detail the suspected health changes in
adults that result from environmental change. An overview of changes in world
health patterns provides basic insight. The increase in various chronic diseases
326
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
among younger and younger adults during the last 50 years appears to corre
spond with the introduction and increased presence of EDCs. Cancer is no
longer a disease of the elderly in modern nations. Half of the world’s cancers are
now found in developing nations, all of which have been experiencing modern
ization and the accompanying increase in EDCs for the last 30 to 50 years
(Polednak, 1989; World Cancer Research Fund, 1997). Since the introduction
of man-made toxic chemicals, cancers of the reproductive track are now occur
ring early in life, besides having increased 3-fold in incidence (Benedek and
Kiple, 1993).
Research is minimal on the correlation between EDC exposure and adult
infectious disease. We are all aware of the recent outbreaks of both old and
new infectious disease, yet neither pathogen mutations nor increased inci
dence of disease in adults has been investigated in terms of contaminant
exposure. At the same time, correlation between immune system malfunc
tioning and EDCs has been documented (National Research Council, 1993;
Colborn et al., 1996).
Environmental change appears to be influencing the gender of the child to be
parented. Slow, mysterious declines in male births have occurred in various parts
of the world. Suspect factors include exposure to dioxin, pesticides, and high
voltage (Knave et al., 1979; Dimich-Ward et al., 1996; Mocarelli et al., 1996).
Impairments to male-producing fertility are found with both fathers and moth
ers, leading to a hypothesis that the involved toxic agents impact hormone lev
els related to sex determination and/or pregnancy outcomes (Toppari et al.,
1996;Toppari and Skakkebaek, 1997).
The Right to Expect Our Children to Have Healthy Bodies and Pregnancies
Given the suspected insidious and sometimes minute but important alterations
induced by EDCs, the identification of changes in health and factual proof of
such change presents a major dilemma. There is a scarcity of baseline data prior
to the introduction of toxic chemicals on which to base the actual occurrence
of possible EDC-induced aberrations. For example, birth defects are the leading
cause of infant death in Florida, although a birth-defect registry, aimed at track
ing the problem and looking at the causes, was not approved by the state
government until May 1997 (Gainesville Sun, 1997). Florida is a state with a
history of heavy agricultural and residential pesticide use. The rate of defects
prior to the introduction of pesticides will never be accurately known.
Although 34 other states have a similar registry, a national registry is still
lacking. Such problems should not be viewed as deterrents for documenting
changes in health status but used to enlarge the scope of recognizable steps that
must be taken to promote better documentation and recognition of the health
changes found in association with EDC exposure. One step that must be
undertaken rapidly is the procurement of broad-based physical and mental
Endocrine Disruption in Children
327
health baseline data on both adults and children living in the few lesser conta
minated areas of the world, for EDC exposure will eventually increase in
amount and complexity with modernization processes.
The process of growth and development during fetal life and childhood are
reflections of health. While the foundations for body growth are laid down
during fetal life, the human infant is compositionally immature at birth. Physi
cal growth is a continuous process. Tissue organization and cellular maturation
continues until adulthood. It has been demonstrated that infants exposed ^o
high levels of PCBs or herbicides transplacentally are small for gestational age
at birth (Munger et al., 1997). An enigma exists in regards to this question:
Does in utero EDC exposure continue to disrupt postnatal growth? Children
exposed transplacentally to PCBs can be used in this debate. Jacobson and
Jacobson (1990, 1996) found that children with in utero PCB exposure were
small for gestational age and remained small at 4 years of age. The studies on a
prenatally PCB-exposed group of Yu Cheng children read that they may or
may not continue to have continued growth retardation (Gnu et al., 1994; Lai
et al., 1994). Cultural and social factors, some of which were considered as vari
ables in the various studies, can account for some of the differences. In addition,
one must consider the usual outcome of small infants for gestational age. In a
1972 study, occurring prior to the large-scale recognition of EDCs, babies who
were bom small were evaluated at 4 years of age. Of these children, 35%
remained below the third percentile for both length and head circumference,
and only 8% rose above the 50th percentile markers for their age group
(Fitzhardinge and Steven, 1972). These data provide hints that other factors
besides EDC-induced growth disruption may be involved with the continua
tion of the exposed fetus’s failure grow to a normative level following birth. At
the same time, it does not refute correlation between EDCs and limited
growth. One must ask if there are any accompanying inborn genetic and/or
physiological alterations due to EDCs that accompany below-average growth.
This appears tb be so. Disorders of ectodermal and neurological tissue are
present in children with in utero PCB exposure (Rogan et al., 1998).
One of the most important postnatal maturation processes occurs within
the central nervous system. Rapid neurological development, particularly
learning capabilities, occurs during the first 5 years of life and ends with com
plete rhyelination of the peripheral and spinal cord nerve tracts at adulthood.
Research has documented that children with high levels of transplacental
exposure to PCBs have hypotonia and hyporeflexia at birth, indicating that
the central nervous system (CNS) has been affected prior to birth (Rogan and
Gladen, 1992). Other signs of defective CNS function that exhibit themselves
later in. childhood include slowed motor development, with deficits in gross
and fine eye-hand coordination (Chen and Hsu, 1994; Cherr and Hsu, 1994;
Guillette et al., 1998). The capacity for intellectual abilities also increases
during these early years (National Research Council, 1993). Findings suggest
that prenatal exposure to PCBs and pesticides tend to affect high cortical
328
I
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
function rather than the sensory pathway, resulting in a lower IQ (Chen and
Hsu, 1994; Jacobson and Jacobson, 1996). Many of these identified deficits,
including behavioral problems and increased activity levels, persist over time
(Cherr and Hsu, 1994). Both human and animal research are also providing
correlative evidence that prenatal exposure to heavy metals induces varied
mental and psychomotor disturbances, including learning, behavioral, and
memory disorders (Liu and Elsner, 1995). We do not know if the identified
learning/behavioral deficits ever occur with postnatal exposure to an addi
tional compound or if the prenatal deficits are exacerbated by postnatal expo
sure to similar EDCs. These questions are difficult to answer because of the
multiplicity of extraneous factors affecting growth and development in any
child, including genetics, diet, ethnic practices, and cultural opportunities for
mental stimulation and the overt expression of abilities.
Ethnic and regional differences in thought processes do exist and will con
tinue to exist (Polednak, 1989). Such differences must be taken into account
with the mental evaluations of children living in various areas of the world.
American children are presented with many opportunities to recall a series of
numbers (zip codes, social security numbers, and telephone numbers). In
underdeveloped areas, the need to recall a number series is usually absent,
making any test item involving this task difficult for the child to comprehend.
Revision of the method is often necessary, as done with the children of the
Yaqui tribe of Sonora, Mexico, under study for pesticide exposure (Guillette et
al., 1998). Only when asked to repeat vowel sounds in abstract order, can the
child grasp the task, eventually moving into number repetition. Acceptable
childhood play behaviors also vary among cultural groups. Most American ’
preschoolers are encouraged to engage in standing on one foot, which repre
sents a sense of balance. When this same task was asked of Yaqui preschoolers,
the children either refused to perform the task or managed to stand on one foot
momentarily, usually holding onto an object. Only after questioning the
parents did cross-cultural differences regarding the activity emerge. Children
had been taught that standing on one foot was dangerous and results in injury
(Guillette et al., 1998). Therefore, any claim that low scores on this activity
reflected disruption of a sense of balance would have been invalid. Cross-cul
tural research studies are increasing. Interpretation of findings must always
account for social and cultural factors and their implications in regards to neu
rological and mental performance.
B(|dy functioning also includes the response to disease. The incidence of all
cancers in children up to 14 years old rose 7.6% from 1973 through 1989 (Miller
et alj, 1992). The largest increases were for cases of acute lympocytic leukemia
(23.7%), cancers of the brain and nervous system (28.6%), and cancers of the
kidney and renal pelvis (25.9%). During the same time interval, other childhood
cancers decreased (bone and joints, -15%; Hodgkin's disease, -1.5%; non
Hodgkin's lymphomas, -0.9%). Total cancer incidence for the entire U.S. popula
tion increased approximately 16.1% during this period (Miller et al., 1992).
Endocrine Disruption in Children
329
EDCs have also been correlated with a depressed immune response (Colbom
et al., 1996; see Chap. 7). The number of T-helper cells is known to be decreased
in mice when exposed to DES prior to birth, raising questions with regard to
humans (Palmlund et al., 1993). One study on the Yu-Cheng children, with in
utero exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dibensofurans, demonstrates
altered T-cell function and increased rates of sinopulmonary infection (Luster,
1996). Immune system depression, believed to be induced by PCB-contaminated
food, is at the point where Inuit children have chronic ear infections and fail to
produce antibodies in response to the usual childhood vaccinations (Colbom et
al., 1996). Pesticides appear to create a similar immune system depression. Over
half the families residing in the agricultural regions of Sonora, Mexico, experience
seven or more bouts with infectious disease per year, in addition to autoimmune
ailments of allergies and asthma, compared to incidence of none to two episodes
of infectious disease and no autoimmune symptoms in the reference group. Most
common are upper and lower respiratory infections, with adults similar to chil
dren in disease incidence (Guillette, 1997). The long-term impact of a compro
mised immune system gains greater importance when viewed in terms of social
and environmental change. Already the more common infectious agents show
resistance to new and powerful antibiotics. Looking to the future, will these chil
dren be more susceptible to certain diseases of adulthood, including the sexually
transmitted diseases and such immune disorders as rheumatoid arthritis, for
which there is no known cure?
Evaluating Risk
Risk assessment is usually approached in the context of the probability of a par
ticular compound producing undesirable health outcomes, usually cancer. Risk
is generally determined from the extrapolation of data derived from highly
exposed subpopulation groups and/or data based on the chemical’s effect on
rodents, and then applied to adult humans (May 1996). Several problems exist
with this approach. First is the assumption that only the heavily exposed sub
population is at the greatest risk. Little consideration is given to the fact that the
majority of all children are exposed to unknown doses of contaminants, includ
ing heavy metals, carcinogens, and multiple EDCs. For instance, background
levels ofTCDD up to 20 ng/kg have been found in the general population, with
no identifiable specific exposures (Peterson et al., 1993). Adults and children are
also unknowingly exposed through the foods we eat and water that we drink, in
addition to the dust of our environment (National Research Council, 1993).
Opportunities for children to become contaminated are even greater than
parents may suspect. Play leads to direct contact with pesticide residues in yards,
schools, and homes (Calabrese, 1997; Stanek, 1995). Other sources of contami
nation include poorly ventilated classrooms and the arts and crafts supplies at
330
Endocrine Disruption in Children
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
schools (Fields, 1997). In addition to the hidden sources of exposure is the fact
that the child can be absorbing more toxic material than an adult in the same
area. The child inhales and absorbs lead at a level 2 to 3 times that of an adult
due to the child's higher metabolism and higher level of activity (Schell, 1991).
One can assume that other airborne EDCs enter at a comparatively similar
increased rate.
The universality of contamination places all children at some degree of risk,
with the possibility of having cellular disorganization during fetal life and the
later development of endocrine-related dysfunctions. The interrelationships be
tween body size, time of exposure, and amount of exposure are not considered.
This interrelationship is most important for the developing fetus and the young
child (Bern, 1992). "Weak" estrogen, or EDCs that bind to the estrogen receptor,
have a far more potent effect on unborn mice than on adult animals (Bern,
1992). There are also critical developmental periods during which exposure can
induce modifications in cell function and structure (Bern, 1992; Guillette,
1994). Although these studies involve research on nonprimates, the applicabil
ity of findings to human fetal life should not be denied. As described by Bern
(1992), the treatment of mice’with diethylstilbestrol (DES) during the time pe
riod of development of the reproductive tract results in the same vaginal and
uterine cell dysplasias as found in women whose mothers received DES during
the third month of pregnancy. Such specifics are good to know, but the situation
of the world today means that developing embryos are exposed to multiple
specifics, many of which remain unknown.
Risk assessment for children needs to be considered both in terms of interurterine exposure and continuing exposure throughout childhood. It is now
believed that many EDCs are able to pass the placental barrier and enter the
fetus. Fetal blood and breast milk have a high lipophilic content and appear to
absorb lipid soluble EDCs. The transfer of the contaminants to the fetus and
child is well known (Rogan and Gladen, 1990; Ahlborg et al., 1992). Develop
ing countries, which do not have controls on the use and types of chemicals as
strict as those in developed countries, Vhave a fetal blood and breast milk EDC
concentration that meets or exceeds levels found in the developed world
(Autrup, 1993). In human populations, the average levels of DDT in breast
milk range from 70 to 170 mg/1, with highs of 830 (Wolff, 1983). Assorted pes
ticide residues have been found in such diverse areas as Australia, Uruguay,
Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Guatemala (Thomas and Colbom, 1992).Therefore, it
seems reasonable to assume that all children bom today have experienced in
utero exposure to some form of EDCs and continued exposure if breast feeding
was undertaken. Hopefully, the time will arrive when child risk assessment con
siders the maternal body load of EDCs prior to pregnancy but not based
exclusively on such data. Exclusive use of the toxic equivalency approach may
underestimate the risk of deleterious effect, because of the many independent
mechanisms involved with these effects and the number of factors involved,
including the amount and timing of fetal exposure and possibly the mixture of
331
transferred compounds. For these same reasons, the evaluation of children must
extend beyond the typical disease incidence approach to include the endpoints
of growth and development, including varied physical maturation process, cog
nitive abilities, neuromuscular performance, and behaviors.
Both the role of Darwinian evolution and( cultural evolution must be incor
porated into any evaluative method of growth and development. Genetic
differences among children and among racial groups are increasingly recog
nized as being meaningful in terms of susceptibility to actual disease. Facemir^
(Chap. 3) discusses racial differences in the adipose tissue composition. The
most rapid deposition of total body fat occurs during infancy and reoccurs later
during puberesence, especially for the female (National Research Council,
1993). Questions exist if the rapid deposition of fat serves to protect EDC
target organs of the neonate when exposed to lipophilic contaminants. The
issue becomes paramount with breast feeding, as the intake of varied contami
nants via breast milk can be exceedingly high and involve over 250 chemical
contaminants' (Thomas and Colbom, 1992). The anticipation that rapid fat
deposition protects the infant's organs from high concentration of dioxins and
feuans in breast milk is included in the 1990 Canadian Environmental Protec
tion Act (Anonymous, 1990). Others claim that the magnitude of the safety
margin cannot be determined, and the available information does not rule out
the possibility that there is no safety margin for the weight-gaining infant
(Ahlborg et al., 1992).
Cultural evolution has created circumstances in which the safety margin is
compromised. Social-economic conditions in particular produce outcomes
similar to the mental deficits identified with EDC exposure. Undemutrition is
known to affect cognitive functioning, including poor scores on IQ tests, de
creased intersensory perception, and increased propensity towards illness
(Cravioto, 1966; Kamphaus, 1993). Nutrition is not the only social economic
variable related to mental and neuromuscular achievement. It has long been
known that poor sanitation, inadequate health care, limited and/or low-quality
educational and recreational facilities, all interact to play a major role in child
hood development (Krogman, 1972). Social-economic inequality is frequently
correlated with environmental inequality, with the poor and minorities residing
in the more highly contaminated areas (Johnson, 1997). The presence of envi
ronmental EDCs may well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, placing
the children of these families at extreme risk.
In summary, actual risk assessment should not be based on single factors.
Assessment is complicated. The child, from conception onward, is exposed
many times to many compounds. The varied mechanisms of action, in conjunc
tion with the varied times of doses and varied time lines of possible adverse
effects, add additional confusion to determining risk, as children are not just
little adults. They have different exposure, metabolism, and physiological
processes. The total problem is compounded by sociocultural factors that
create their own risk factors and possibly multiply those of EDC exposure. In
I
332
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
addition, childhood risk assessment does not take into account the possibility of
delayed effects that may not be expressed until early adulthood or later (Bern, •
1992; Guillette et al., 1995).
The Future
The course of the future depends on action taken today. Such action includes
two important segments: that of limiting our exposure to EDCs released into
the environment and that of integrating EDC research to present a valid and
realistic picture of what is actually happening. These two segments apply to all
living species, as the physiological and endocrine parameters, although species
specific, also share a great degree of similarity.
Scientists involved with the study of EDCs tend to use a categorical
approach in their research. Investigation centers on such areas as the impact on
biochemistry (i.e., binding properties), cell responses (i.e., mutations), specific
organs (i.e., ovarian function), or the general population (i.e., risk, disease inci
dence). Such research is important in that it provides new knowledge. At the
same time, the treatment of these factors as separate entities carries overtones
of artificiality, in that research addresses issues that are related causally and con
ceptually but fails to give a total picture. The building blocks that result from
compartmentalized research are seldom erected in total to provide a total view
of what may be occurring with all children. The findings give the impression
that there are pockets of children with intellectual deficits and other separate
pockets with children exhibiting hormonal dysfunction or gross birth deformi
ties or growth retardation. While pockets with extremes do exist, one cannot,
and should not, come to the erroneous conclusion that EDCs are not affecting
all children to some degree. The unification of specific knowledge from each
category is necessary to prevent a heightened state of environment-induced
vulnerability for parenting and reproducing, especially with our children and
our children’s children.
Research involving children must be approached holistically, extending
beyond one specific area of interest or expertise. The range of possible outcomes
and their endpoints are largely unknown, as are appropriate methods to assess
possible probabilities (Weiss, 1998). The broad-based assessment of the normal
play behaviors of 4- and 5-year-old pesticide-exposed Yaqui children showed
thatj all areas of play behavior, ranging from ball catching to jumping, from
drawing a stick figure to remembering a gift of a balloon, were compromised
(Gufllette et al., 1998). Such broad-based investigations, delving into unknowns,
not only point out the scope and multitude of possible environment-induced
deficiencies but also point out a need for more in-depth research in areas not
previously recognized as being affected. The holistic approach calls for an inter
disciplinary approach involving social, medical, and natural scientists working
together without the artificial separation of topical components. Secondly, the
Endocrine Disruption in Children
333
need for more international investigation must be recognized, particularly in
developing countries. Contamination is not just a problem in industrialized and
western nations. Many published reports of birth defects, correlated with mater
nal and paternal EDC exposure, do not receive recognition because they are
usually in lesser-read publications, such as Rupa et al.’s (1991) findings of a
300% increase in congenital defects and a 4-fold increase in neonatal death of
children bom to pesticide-exposed men in India. Such reports—plus verbal
reports by nurses, midwives, agronomists, and others—indicate that children
worldwide are exhibiting syndromes consistent with EDC exposure. For
instance, a South-African midwife asked me for help in explaining "a strange
new disease of newborns’’ in a particular agricultural area. The symptoms she
described fit the syndrome of hermaphroditism. Many countries are those that
contain sites with maximum and minimal exposure, providing valid reference
groups for research.
;•
Lastly, as research identifies an increasing array of pathological and physiolog
ical changes hypothesized to be associated with EDC exposure, consideration
must be given to the acceptable and nonacceptable trade-offs that accompany
technological advances. Evolution of flora and fauna, including Homo sapiens,
continues to go onward as life continues. Clean air, water, and sufficient food is
needed for all life. Providing these basics involves an integrated plant-based,
animal-based, and human-based political economy. Short-term advantages that
maintain the political economy must be weighed against long-term disadvan
tages, as should short-term disadvantages against long-term advantages.
Similar choices must be made for proposing and selecting intervention for
protecting children. There are no simple answers. Mothers have been advised to
cut away fatty portions of contaminated meat and fish where bioaccumlation is
greatest. The removal of fat is a stopgap at best, for where is such tissue dis
carded? I have observed it being fed to other meat-producing livestock,
including goats and hogs. At other times it ends up in a garbage heap, where it
reenters the earth. Agricultural workers are advised to wash pesticide-contami
nated clothing separate from other articles. Yes, this does decrease skin
absorption of these pesticides by others. But where does the contaminated water
flow? The possibility ofits reentering the water system is present, particularly in
rural areas served by shallow wells and drainfields.
Other family-based interventions for decreasing exposure pose similar deci
sion-making problems, balancing economics and health. A mother’s decision in
regards to breast or bottle feeding frequently reflects the social and economic
status of the family in society (Frayser, 1985). Only recently have the possible
relationships of decreased maternal breast cancer risk and immunological
advantages for the infant play a strong influencing role on the lay person’s deci
sion-making process for infant feeding. The maternal cumulative EDC load is a
new facet to be considered in the decision-making process. With regard to all
EDCs, the estimated intakes for neonates could be exceedingly high, and may
exceed the permissible daily intake (Colbom et al., 1996). One point of view is
336
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
--------- , Crain, D.A., Rooney, A.A., and Pickford, D.B. (1995). Organization
versus activation: The role of endocrine-disrupting contaminants (EDCs)
during embryonic development in wildlife. Environ. Health Perspec. 103
(Suppl. 7): 157-164.
--------- and Guillette, E.A. (1996). Environmental contaminants and reproduc
tive abnormalities in wildlife: Implications for public health? Toxicol. <Sd
Indust. Health 12:337-350.
Guo, Y.L., Lai,T.J., Ju, S.H., Chen, Y.C., and Hsu, C.C. (1993). Sexual develop
ments and biological findings in Yucheng children. Chemosphere 14:
235-238.
Iguchi,T. (1992). Cellular effects of early exposure to sex hormones and anti
hormones. Intemat. Rev. Cytol. 139:1-57.
Jacobson, J.L., and Jacobson, S.W. (1996). Intellectual impairment in children
exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls in utero. New England J. Med. 335:
783-789.
--------- ,--------- , and Humphrey, H.E.B. (1990). Effects of exposure to PCBs
and related compounds on growth and activity of children. Neurotox. Terat.
12:319-326.
Johnson, B.R. (1997). Life and death matters at the end of the millennium. In
Life and Death Matters: Human Rights and the Environment at the End of the
Millennium. (B.R. Johnson, Ed.), pp. 9-22. AltaMira, Walnut Creek.
Endocrine Disruption In Children
337
Luster, tyl.I. (1996). Immunotoxicology: Clinical consequences. Toxicol. &
Indust. Health 12: 533-535.
May, M. (1996). Risk assessment: Bridging the gap between prediction and
experimentation. Environ. Health Perspec. 104: 1150-1151.
Miller, B.A., Reis, L.A.G., Hankey, C.L., Kosary, C.L., and Edwards, B.K. (1992).
Cancer Statistics Review 1973-1989. NIH Pub. No. 92-2789. National Insti
tutes of Health, Bethesda.
Mocarelli, P., Brambilla, P., Gerthous, P.M., Patterson, D.G., and Needham, L.IL.
(1996). Change in sex ratio with exposure to dioxin. Lancet 14: 348—409.
Munger, R., Isacson, P., Hu, S., Bums, T, Hanson, J., Lynch, C.F., Cherryholmes,
K., Van Dorpe, P., and Hausler, W.J., Jr. (1997). Intrauterine growth retarda
tion in Iowa communities with herbicide-contaminated drinking water
supplies. Environ. Health Perspec. 105: 308-314.
National Research Council (1993). Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Chil
dren. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
Palmlund, I., Apfel, R., Buitendijk, S., Cabau, A., and Forsberg, J. (1993).
Effects of Diethylstibestrol (DES) medication during pregnancy: Report
from a symposium at the 10th International Congress of ISPOG. J. Psychoso
Kamphaus, R.W. (1993). Clinical Assessment of Children's Intelligence. Allyn and
Bacon, Boston.
matic Obstetric. Gynaecol. 14: 71-89.
Peterson, R.E.,Theobald, H.M., and Kimmel, G.L. (1993). Developmental and
reproductive toxicology of dioxins and related compounds: Cross-species
comparisons. Crit. Rev. in Toxicol. 23: 283-335.
Polednak, A.P. (1989). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Disease. Oxford Univer
Karmaus, W, and Wolf, N. (1995). Reduced birthweight and length in the off
spring of females exposed to PCDFs, PCP, and Lindane. Environ. Health
Perspec. 103: 1120-1125.
Knave, B., Gamberale, F., Bergstrom, E.E., Birke, E., Iregen, A., KolmodinHedman, B., and Wennberg, A. (1979). A long-term exposure to electric
fields: A cross-sectional epidemiologic investigation of occupationally
exposed workers in high-voltage substations. Scandinavian J. Work &
Environ. Health 5:115-125.
sity Press, New York.
Popline (1997). Fertility decline reported. World Population News Service
• Popline. Vol. 19: May-June, p. 33.
t
Rogan, W.J., Gladden, B.C., Hung, K.L., Shish, S.L., Taylor, J.S., Wu, Y.C., Yand,
D., Ragan, N.B., and Hsu, C.C. (1988). Congenital poisoning by polycholorinated biphenyls and their contaminants in Taiwan. Science 241: 334-336.
--------- and---------- (1990). Perinatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and child development at 18 and 24 months. Pediatric Resident 27:
Krogman, W.M. (1972). Child Growth. University of Michigan Press, Ann
Arbor.
97A.
|
--------- and---------- (1992). Neurotoxiciology of PCBs and related compounds.
Lai,T.J., Guo, Y., Yu, M.L., Ko, H.C., and Hsu, C.C. (1994). Cognitive develop
ment in Yucheng children. Chemosphere 29: 2405-2411.
Leke, F.J., Oduma, A.J., Basson-Mayagoitis, S., and Grigor, K.M. (1993).
Regional and geographic variation in infertility: Effects of environmental,
cultural and socioeconomic factors. Environ. Health Perspec. 101: 64-73.
Neurotoxicol. 13: 27-35.
Rupa, D.S., Reddy, P.P., and Reddy, O.S. (1991). Reproductive performance in
populations exposed to pesticides in cotton fields in India. Environ. Res. 55:
Liu, G., and Elsner, J. (1995). Review of the multiple chemical exposure factors
which may disturb human behavioral development. Preventive Med. 40:
209-217.
123-128.
Schecter, A., and Ryan, J. (1993). Exposure of female production workers and
their children in Ufa, Russia, to PCDDs/PCdFs/planar PCBs. In 13th Interna
tional Symposium on Chlorinated Dioxins and Related Compounds in State
University of New York, Binghamton, pp. 55-58. State University of New York.
334
»I
Environmental Endocrine Disrupters
4b
that breast feeding occurs only for a relatively short period of the life span, with
exposure reduced below the guidelines during the remainder of the life span
[Anonymous, 1990; Ahlborg et al., 1992). Also, the supposition is that with the
rapid deposit of fatty tissue during neonatal life, EDC concentration occurs in
the adipose tissue rather than the target organs (Anonymous, 1990).The ques
tion whether breast feeding should be advocated or not remains a serious
matter for scientists to resolve. There should be concern for the transference of
EDCs, but considerations must also be given to the positive benefits for the
mother and infant.
In all instances, the choice that must be made by the individual involves
choosing between short-term and long-term options that will affect their health
and their environment. The question all of us must face is: Should EDC produc
tion and use be restricted? If so, what will be the outcome in terms of global
quality of life and for public health? There are no easy answers to these ques
tions. Advances in knowledge, technology, and policy must provide avenues that
will protect both the environment and the people, now and in the future. Until
adequate means are found to substitute for present technology, we are left with
the question: "Is my child all right?”
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Iguchi,T. (1992). Cellular effects of early exposure to sex hormones and anti
hormones. Internal. Rev. Cytol. 139: 1-57.
Jacobson, J.L., and Jacobson, S.W. (1996). Intellectual impairment in children
exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls in utero. New England J. Med. 335:
783-789.
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and related compounds on growth and activity of children. Neurotox. Terat.
12:319-326.
Johnson, B.R. (1997). Life and death matters at the end of the millennium. In
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Millennium. (B.R. Johnson, Ed.), pp. 9-22. AltaMira, Walnut Creek
Kamphaus, R.W. (1993). Clinical Assessment of Children's Intelligence. Allyn and
Bacon, Boston.
Karmaus, W, and Wolf, N. (1995). Reduced birthweight and length in the off
spring of females exposed to PCDFs, PCP, and Lindane Environ. Health
Perspec. 103: 1120-1125.
Endocrine Disruption In Children
337
Luster, tyl.L (1996). Immunotoxicology: Clinical consequences. ToxicoL &
Indust. Health 12: 533-535.
May, M. (1996). Risk assessment: Bridging the gap between prediction and
experimentation. Environ. Health Perspec 104:1150-1151.
Miller, B.A., Reis, L.A.G., Hankey, C.L., Kosary, C.L., and Edwards, B.K. (1992).
Cancer Statistics Review 1973-1989. NIH Pub. No. 92-2789. National Insti1
tutes of Health, Bethesda.
Mocarelli, P., Brambilla, P., Gerthous, P.M., Patterson, D.G., and Needham, L.Il.
(1996). Change in sex ratio with exposure to dioxin. Lancet 14: 348-409.
Munger, R., Isacson, P., Hu, S., Bums,T., Hanson, J., Lynch, C.E, Cherryholmes,
K., Van Dorpe, P., and Hausler, W.J., Jr. (1997). Intrauterine growth retarda
tion in Iowa communities with herbicide-contaminated drinking water
supplies. Environ. Health Perspec 105:308-314.
National Research Council (1993). Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Chil
dren. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
Palmlund, I., Apfel> R., Buitendijk, S., Cabau, A., and Forsberg, J. (1993).
Effects of Diethylstibestrol (DES) medication during pregnancy: Report
from a symposium at the 10th International Congress of ISPOG. J. Psychoso
matic Obstetric Gynaecol. 14: 71-89.
Peterson, R.E., Theobald, H.M., and Kimmel, G.L. (1993). Developmental and
reproductive toxicology of dioxins and related compounds: Cross-species
comparisons. Crit. Rev. in Toxicol. 23: 283-335.
Polednak, A.P. (1989). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Disease. Oxford Univer
Knave, B., Gamberale, E, Bergstrom, E.E., Birke, E., Iregen, A., KolmodinHedman, B., and Wennberg, A. (1979). A long-term exposure to electric
fields: A cross-sectional epidemiologic investigation of occupationally
exposed workers in high-voltage substations. Scandinavian J. Work &
Environ. Health 5: 115-125.
sity Press, New York.
Popline (1997). Fertility decline reported. World Population News Service
■ Popline. Vol. 19: May-June, p. 33.
,
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D., Ragan, N.B., and Hsu, C.C. (1988). Congenital poisoning by polycholorinated biphenyls and their contaminants in Taiwan. Science 241: 334-336.
--------- and---------- (1990). Perinatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and child development at 18 and 24 months. Pediatric Resident 27:
Krogman, WM. (1972). Child Growth. University of Michigan Press, Ann
Arbor.
97A.
|
--------- and---------- (1992). Neurotoxiciology of PCBs and related compounds.
Lai,T.J., Guo, Y, Yu, M.L., Ko, H.C., and Hsu, C.C. (1994). Cognitive develop
ment in Yucheng children. Chemosphere 29: 2405-2411.
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Liu, G., and Elsner, J. (1995). Review of the multiple chemical exposure factors
which may disturb human behavioral development. Preventive Med. 40:
209-217.
123-128.
Schecter, A., and Ryan, J. (1993). Exposure of female production workers and
their children in Ufa, Russia, to PCDDs/PCdFs/planar PCBs. In 13th Interna
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aI
s
INDEX
I
uilt
er means that an illustration is on that page; t means table)
(Italic letter f after a page nv
A
.Vrr.E—ine buc
.rnAction, S*e Hormone action
Acylglycerols, biotransformations, 87-68
effect on immune system, 186-187
evidence. 130-131
‘
fhnrtirar ZS-2S
rabess, 131-132
I
nants, 59-66
Adipsln/acylation stimulating protein, func
Androgen receptors
levels, 10
location, 83
Androgenic hormone, function, 136
Anilinonaphthalenesulfonic acid, effect on
thyroid hormone binding, 166-167
Animalfs), threat of environmental estro-
tion, 62
Adrenal cortex of mammals, zones, 32
Adrenal corticotrophln, function, 32
African clawed frog, thyroid hormone cross
gcns,251-252
Animal models
endocrine disruptors and neoplasia
dichlorodlphenyltrichloroethane, 307
talk, 88
African walking frog, endocrine disruption,
estrogenic pesticides, 307
hormonal carcinogenesis
experimental neoplasia, 301
ovarian hormones and neoplasia
endometrial tumors, 302-303
mammary tumors, 303-304
pituitary tumors, 304-305
Adipose tissue
differences, 62
storage of endocrine-disrupiting contami
24
Age effect
endocrine-disrupting contaminant-recep
tor interactions, 110—111
steroid receptor interactions, 85
Agglutinin-secreting rosettes, Immunological
biomarker, 193-200
Agonism, endocrine-disrupting contami
nant-receptor interaction, 90-91
Alkylphenol(s), threat to human and animal
populations, 251-252
Alkylphenolic detergents, endocrine disrup
tion, 127
Alligator
effect
<
endocrine-disrupting contaminants on
hormone excretion and biotransfor
mation, 12-13
polychlorinated biphenyls on endocrine
parameters, 9-10
endocrine disruption by environmental
chemicals, 127
Alligator mississippiensls, effect of endocrinedisrupting contaminants on hormone ex
cretion and biotransformation, 12-13
American alligator, effect of polychlorinated
biphenyls on endocrine parameters, 9-10
Aminoheterocyclic compounds, effect on io
dide transport, 166
Amphibian, endocrine disruption, 23
prostrate, 306-307
studies, 302
testicular tumors, 305-306
spontaneous neoplasia of estrogen target
organs, 301
Antagonism, endocrine-disrupting contami
nant-receptor Interaction, 92-93
Anthropology, Interpretation of endocrine
disruption in children, 332-334
Antibodies ,
classes, 18'4
function, 184
Antiestrogenic effects of environmental con
taminants, role in human abnormalities,
127-128
Antithyroid agents, role in thyroid tumors,
171—172
Apoptosis, effect of glucocorticoids, 185-186
Aquatic food chains, role In bioaccumula
tion, 55
Arochlor effect
earthworms, 193
perinatal exposure, 249
Arthropods, effect of sex steroids, 135—136
Aryl hydrocarbon receptors, activation, 89
Androgen(s)
339
A7*. ■ .s:^^r.:;-, ■ ti.-,t~ ;v.l?. ';r,?
Examining Childhood Development in Contaminated Urban Settings
Elizabeth A. Guillette
Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Normal childhood development and growth is affected by such factors as genetics, nutrition, and
multiple familial and social factors. In large urban settings, children are constantly exposed to varying
amounts of assorted toxic chemicals both inside and outside the home. Many of these contaminants
are suspected to be associated with developmental alterations. The heterogeneity of risk factors in
urban populations poses a challenging situation for research. Change must be made in the* manner in
which developmental toxicological research is undertaken. Plans should be made for immediate data
collection after a large-scale exposure to prevent the loss of valuable information. Retrospective
studies would benefit from applying rapid assessment techniques to identify high- and low-risk
children. In all cases, the development of research design and investigative format needs to reflect
the strengths of both social factors and scientific facts. Cross-disciplinary approaches, using
physicians and physical and social scientists and incorporating community knowledge, are required for
the evaluation of children in urban settings, with each discipline contributing to theory and
methodology. Key words: childhood development contaminants, rapid assessment urban children.
— Environ Health Perspect 108(suppl 3):389-393 (2000).
http'J/ehpnet l.niehs. nih. gov/docs/2000/suppl~3/389K]93guillette/abstract.html
The identification of children at risk for the
ull effects of contamination at first seems easy.
'They are the children living in an area heavily
contaminated with a toxic chemical. Such an
approach places emphasis on situations of
environmental injustice, with a tendency to
regard routine exposures as a normal part of
life. Research has neglected children exposed
to varying, and sometimes small, amounts of
assorted chemicals. This paper explores
approaches for research examining children
living with chronic ambient contamination
from mixed sources. The multiple risk fac
tors, including and extending beyond conta
mination, that influence childhood health
and development arc presented. Thoughts on
incorporating cross-disciplinary approaches to
research, allowing for the incorporation of
multiple risk factors, are also discussed. An
understanding of the interplay among all risk
factors is necessary to ensure normal growth
and development in all children.
Unfortunately, definitive proof that any
"mount of a toxic chemical increases risk for
functional or pathological disorders is diffi
cult to obtain. Intelligence loss correlates
with known in utero exposure to polychlori
nated biphenyls (/). Children living in highpesticide areas, with few ocher sources of
contamination, exhibit neuromuscular and
neuromental deficits (2). In both cases, the
research involves a group of children with
known exposure to a particular group of tox
icants chat is absent in reference groups.
Such ideal populations are difficult to find,
and even then, we arc faced with unknown
background levels of other contaminants.
Contamination with man-made chemicals
is a global problem from which no child
escapes multiple exposures from numerous
sources (3). We must accept the impossibility
of raising children in a sterile environment in
which exposure to toxic chemicals is con
trolled from conception onward. Not only
must we admit that all children have multiple,
and often unknown, exposures to toxic chemi
cals, but we must also accept the role of other
variables, such as diet and parenting skills,
that influence childhood growth, develop
ment, and health status. Therefore, research
must responsibly identify the multitude of
factors that affect a child's well-being and
incorporate these variables into research
methodology. As scientists, we want not only
to know not just the effects of multiple expo
sures, but also to identify other specific risk
factors that, in conjunction with contamina
tion, may potentiate deleterious outcomes.
Heterogeneity in
Contamination Exposure
Factors for Urban Children
Today, most children live in urban environ
ments facing such urban problems as traffic,
smog, industrial plants, and older housing
stock. Chemical releases from incinerators,
factories, and support services, such as dry
cleaning, also contribute to the ambient mix
ture of toxins to which the child can be
exposed daily. Heavy metals, such as lead, plus
the breakdown products of various materials
used daily, such as plastics, are constantly pre
sent, sometimes at levels far beyond acceptable
standards (4). The vehicular congestion found
in a city along with the tall buildings restrict
air How and thereby provide increased oppor
tunities for contamination through respira
tion. Airborne contaminants fall to the
ground, where children sit and play. Moreover,
application of pesticides occurs in urban areas
for pest control in homes, yards, schools, and
golf courses. More recently, large cities, such
Environmental Health Perspectives • Vol 108, Supplement 3 • June 2000
as Manhattan, New York, and Tampa,
Florida, have been sprayed with pesticides to
control potential outbreaks of plant and ani
mal disease. The similarities in action among
contaminants deserve more attention than is
usually given. All are toxic and biologic in
action, either directly or by endocrine disrup
tion. The disruptive effects can take different
routes according to the chemical and the time
of exposure, but the end result is an alteration
in body function (5). Shared disruptive char
acteristics include alterations in body system
function, mental and behavioral changes,
decreases in neuromuscular abilities, and
compromised immunological function (6-5).
The degree to which these disruptive charac
teristics overlap within a given child remains
unknown. This lack of knowledge raises quefl
tions. Should research take the approach oT
investigating a single contaminant ami all
of its possible outcomes or should we empha
size outcomes due to mechanisms, such as
endocrine disruption, or neurological alter
ations following exposure to a heterogeneous
mixture of toxic agents?
Heterogeneity in Human
Risk Factors
Urban areas, with mixtures of contaminants,
also have heterogeneous human populations.
Frequently, population heterogeneity is
thought of in terms of race as an indicator of
genetic differences among people (4).
Descriptions of children must extend beyond
the breakdown of racial groupings based on
skin color, hair texture, and/or facial features.
No major racial group remains genetically
isolated from others; there is a long historical
sharing of genes among groups (9). This mix^
ing of genes among all peoples results in more’
genetic diversity within a racial group than is
found between racial groups (/6). Yet the
assumption remains that the separation of
individuals by racial groups will provide a
valid basis for genetic separation of children’s
responses to contamination. The assumption
becomes additionally complicated with the
findings of genetic variants that can cither
This article is based on a presentation at the confer
ence "Pediatric Environmental Health
Putting it into
Practice" held 4-6 June 1999 in San Francisco.
California.
Address correspondence to E
Guillette, 32 SW
43rd Terrace. Gainesville, FL 32607 USA
(352)
375-5929.
Fax:
(352)
Telephone:
392-3704.
E-mail:
guilletteCJzoo.ufl.edu
Received 10 January 2000; accepted 4 April 2000.
389
GUILLETTE
l,K reuse or decrease an individual's sensitivity
1,1 loxins (11,12). Race does play a role in the
‘fl’lrilmtion of some diseases (i.e., sickle-cell
•’Urmia among those of African descent) but
** Hot limited to a given race (73). Racial
Ei'livtic diversity prevents assigning a propen*»hy for the harmful effects of contamination
1‘iKnl only on dominant racial features until
’’’orc is understood with regard to such
Hriiclic variants.
Expressions of population heterogeneity
•mist go beyond genetics and race. All races
’"i hide those who arc rich and poor. The ten•Iriity is to place increased risk factors on the
poor, with claims of high exposure due to
•'Hvironmental inequality (74). Often, claims
”1 environmental inequality for the poor arc
11 Ur. especially for a single compound in a
lllven geographical area, but we fail to con
sider that the rich may be equally at risk (75).
Illvvvascd exposure may come not only from
uncontrollable external environment but
Jhnn the home environment that the affluent
phiivc made for themselves and their children.
I he more affluent are more apt to have houseI'uld furnishings replaced more frequently.
Many new furnishings contain chemical dyes
finishes. According to U.S. Environ
mental Protection Agency congressional testi
mony, adhesive-backed carpets emit
‘'I'l'mximately 120 chemicals, many of which
toxic (76). The more affluent are also
'hose who have large lawns to be kept weed
’"hl insect free, frequently by the application
"I pesticides and herbicides. No one knows if
children of families that provide their oflFx?nng with the newest and the latest in mater'al gvxxls and services are more, less, or equally
exposed to multiple contaminants chan the
children living in areas designated “environ
mentally unjust.” In essence, contact with
mdividual compounds may differ in levels and
among the richer and poorer children,
mu the cumulative effect of chemical-induced
pUngc in body functioning could be similar,
■AUvit via differing mechanisms.
Within the United States, white mothers
m higher income brackets are the most apt to
' tvast-feed, and to do so for longer periods of
(17). Possible links between contamitransfer from breast milk to future
mtant health have not been well established.
px current opinion is that the health beneof breast-feeding outweigh any possible
hmire deleterious consequences, although
'‘^others do opt out of the practice due to fear
's( harm to the infant (75).
)*he child’s daily play practices add to the
''•ariables contributing to the contaminant
burden. Toys are now a. major concern,
the discovery of the leaching of phthafound in teething rings and soft plastic
‘utvlcs that young children put into their
^XXtths (19). Household insect sprays leave
pesticide residues on toys and on the floor,
which are routes for oral and skin absorption
(20). Outdoor toys and play areas pose simi
lar situations because of actual spraying and
pesticide drift. Children playing directly on a
recognized toxic site have higher incidences of
assorted health problems during adulthood
compared to others in the same location who
did not play on the toxic site (27). The more
immediate effects of playing on toxic ground
remain to be investigated.’
Lifetime exposure, including the levels
and rimes of exposure, is difficult, if not
impossible, to calculate in a modern society.
Each child possesses an individualized accu
mulation of varied toxins resulting from
maternal contaminant transfer during preg
nancy and the child’s direct exposure (22).
Body accumulation for persistent contami
nants can be measured, but not all toxins are
persistent within the body. We do not under
stand if, and to what degree, the nonpersistent substances influence childhood growth
and development, particularly with prenatal
exposure. Decreases in height, weight, and
intelligence, along with increases in disease
incidence, birth defects, behavioral disorders,
and organ malfunctions are associated with
known in utero exposure to various persistent
chemicals (2,23-27). The lack of extensive
background data regarding exposures, espe
cially of subjects participating in research
studies, spearheads debate over the interpreta
tion and meaning of findings regarding toxic
chemicals and humans.
Other Factors Influencing
Growth and Development
The mental and physical health characteristics
associated with toxic exposure can also be
duplicated through other known factors.
These nonchcmical factors capable of gener
ating similar outcomes must be investigated.
Many of these assorted factors are closely tied
to social-economic class but are not limited
to a particular grouping. Nutrition is a prime
example. Malnutrition is a powerful factor
that can adversely affect physical and intellec
tual development. Poor nutrition results in
stunted growth, decreased organ size, mental
retardation, and increased susceptibility to
infection and other diseases (25). In addition,
the overall functional capacity becomes lim
ited (29). Although access to food is more
restricted and hunger more frequent among
the poor, undernutrition is not necessarily
restricted to either event (30). Undernutrition
does occur among the rich, with poor food
habits resulting in both nutritional deficien
cies and excesses (37). The reversibility of the
adverse effects of poor and undernutrition is
debatable, especially after 3 years of age (32).
Sociocultural practices also have a direct
influence on the developmental process.
Beginning with pregnancy, the assorted
practices of smoking, alcohol use, vitamin
and other dietary supplements, plus street
and medicinal drugs influence fetal develop
ment and outcomes after birth (18).
Social-cultural practices can also effect the
oven expression of unaffected inherited genes
(33). For example, evidence is increasing that
heredity provides the major control over
intelligence levels, with wide variations occur
ring among specific individuals of a race but
not between human races or populations
(10,32). At the same time, the assertion that
intelligence is fixed and immutable is false.
Exposure to stimuli can increase intelligence
quotient scores (32). Parental educational and
stress levels, exposure to chronic noise, and
the parent's daily living practices, such as the
amount and type of attention given to. the
child, all contribute to learning and behavior
patterns (3435). Therefore, it is necessary for
researchers to control for the differences in
parental stimulation and social learning and
the circumstances that can potentially modi^^
intellect and developmental skills.
Variations in child-rearing practices that
influence developmental patterns probably
intermingle in assorted ways, with the body
burdens of contaminants resulting in unique
and varied outcomes. Children living in
highly contaminated areas are more apt to
reflect toxicity-induced syndromes, includ
ing higher rates of infectious disease and
immune system disorders, and lower chan
expected intelligence scores (75,36). There is
little doubt that various aspects of these
toxicity-induced syndromes are environmen
tally induced, but environmental influences
must include aspects of sanitation and hous
ing, opportunities for cognitive develop
ment, access to preventive and curative
medicine, and even noise levels, all of which
are independent of racial, economic, and
generic make-up (10,13,32). The interplay
between toxicity-induced syndromes and
nontoxic deficits in health and developmc^B
requires careful evaluation, with the placed
ment of appropriate weight on ail possible
causative factors.
Approaches to Children's
Environmental Research
The Need for Cross-Disciplinary
Research
Urban children, as a group, present a hetero
geneous group with numerous risk factors.
This multitude of factors presents a challenge
in research intended to examine the associa
tions between environmental contaminants
and adverse health and/or developmental out
comes in children. Therefore, a multifaceted
approach is required to meet this complex
problem of assessment. Most multifaceted
Environmental Health Perspectives • Vol 108. Supplement 3 • June 2000
CONTAMINANTS AND CHILDHOOD DEVELOP?,.r: T
approaches usually involve related disciplines
with distinct, but overlapping, areas of exper
tise. For instance, a chemist and a physiolo
gist can work together to determine blood
levels of dioxin and altered biological mecha
nisms in children living near a toxic dump. A
physician and an epidemiologist may diag
nose and investigate patterns of disease in a
contaminated area. The identified problem
area may be well researched within their field
of study, but the approach limits an in-depth
examination of multiple variables. Token
appreciation of social-economic status or race
is not enough in urban settings. The inte
grated use of medical, social, and physical sci
ence personnel is applied successfully in court
cases demonstrating relationships between
toxic waste and health (37). Urban research
calls for similar cross-disciplinary coopera
tion, involving physical scientists, social scien
tists, and physicians working together, with
each discipline contributing its own unique
areas of thought, theory, and technique.
Cross-disciplinary approaches to research
c^hallow for tie investigation of clinical and
seWinieal outcomes. Unrecognized compro
mise in areas of normal functioning may give
the appearance of the acceptable and the
expected. Subclinical deficits in assorted areas
of normal functioning (i.e., coordination, sta
mina, and memory) have been reported after
exposure to multiple pesticides in children
who share cultural and genetic backgrounds,
and who outwardly appear similar (2). The
danger of not recognizing such subclinical
adverse outcomes induced by contamination
is that the child’s limitation could be classi
fied as normal functioning, yet the individual
child is unable to reach his or her inherent
level of functioning. In such an instance, the
danger lies in a lowering of the normative
standards for childhood development and
possibly adult functioning. For the individual
children with small drops in intelligence quo
tient, as identified by Jacobson and Jacobson
(^uhe lowered mental abilities did not
in^^ a major loss in ability. At the same
time, the far-reaching social and economic
consequences for the population as a whole
are very real (35). The same broad-based con
sequences arc likely to hold true for perfor
mance deficits. The connection between
subclinical changes and contamination in
complex urban areas will always carry uncer
tainty, but ignoring the possibility of such
change carries great scientific and ethical risk.
The prevention of small change that may
result in major consequences is equally
important as preventing overt disease.
The Need for Quick-Response
Research Programs
The setting found with urban research and
the current approach to examining the health
of urban populations make almost impossible
to correlate a specific type of exposure with a
specific effect. Most scientists do not have
unplanned time or financial resources to
spontaneously begin research in a site imme
diately after mass exposure to a contaminant,
such as the broad-based malathion spraying
that occurred in the Tampa area during 1998
to eradicate the Mediterranean fruit fly (35^.
Hospital reports give clues to the health
impact on the populace, but the separation of
pesticide versus other causative factors is diffi
cult with acute admissions. With the Tampa
incident, many possible spray-related illnesses
were attributed to previous medical condi
tions (35). Delayed scientific investigations
rely on a person’s recall of events and symptomology. As time passes, the error in recall
increases, either with forgetting or though an
unknowing exaggeration of reality {40).
Valuable data arc lost, especially with the
degree of exposure and with the experience of
symptoms not requiring medical treatment.
A preplanned quick response to rhe situa
tion would prevent such a loss of information
and would also allow for accurate documen
tation of medical, physiological, and house
hold responses. These data can then be used
for the development of later in-depth investi
gations. A program for immediate scientific
investigation after natural hazards is available,
with grant approval before the anticipated
disaster and funding available at the time of
the event through the Natural Hazards
Research and Applications Information
Center in Boulder, Colorado. A similar pro
gram, designed for acute contamination situa
tions such as the 1999 malathion spraying in
Manhattan {41) would stimulate research at
the time it is most needed. Announcement of
spraying occurs before the event, allowing for
the actual presence of a cross-disciplinary
research team at the time of application. For
instance, malathion is suspected of hormonal
disruption during pregnancy (27). Instead of
relying on postevent information, more accu
rate data regarding exposure, blood levels,
and endocrine-disruptive responses in preg
nant women could be obtained at the time of
the event and later correlated with fetal
deaths and newborn status. Demographic,
social, and economic variables become impor
tant in correlating the degree of exposure and
with outcomes.
Quick-response research could be
designed for research with children, investi
gating their immediate response for acute
poisoning and following the children
through any possible intermediate syndrome.
Intermediate syndromes occur 24-96 hr after
the resolution of acute cholinergic crisis asso
ciated with organophosphates and arc char
acterized by acute respiratory paresis and
muscular weakness {42). Early evaluations
Environmental Health Perspectives • Vol 108, Supplement 3 • June 2000
could also be used for a prospective longitu
dinal study. Knowledge about initial expo
sure would be invaluable in determining the
association of exposure with overt disease
incidence and suspected ncuropsychiatric
sequela, including depression, memory, and
behavioral changes {42). An early research
response would also help eliminate distorted
recall of facts, which increases in proportion
to the time span involved postevent investi
gation {40). Multiple variables beyond
immediate contact also require immediate
investigation. Play areas and home activities
become paramount, as malathion has been
found in house dust and water (22). At all
times, there must be an awareness that environmerttally induced symptoms can be wors
ened by hidden, or unrecognized, sources of
toxicity. In addition, one must contend with
the multiple variations in functional and
mental abilities, be they adverse or inherent
to the child.
Rapid Assessment with Chronic
Exposure
Cross-disciplinary research on urban children
can be accomplished with ongoing exposure.
One approach is to apply the developmental
rapid assessment techniques used by Guillcttc
et al. (2) to preschool children. Childhood
development is usually assessed in terms of
mental and physical task-orientated activities,
such as the age for walking or skipping or the
mental abilities to solve problems, remember
information, or draw a person (32). The
advantage of rapid assessment techniques is
that many children can be screened in a rela
tively short period of time with a minimum
of personnel. More than 200 children attend
ing randomly selected preschools throughout
the city could be rapidly examined. A child
can be tested with the use of representative
established age-appropriate activities for
neuro-mcntal and muscular functioning in a
30-min period (2). A two-person team, each
evaluating 10 children a day, would provide
basic information on 200 children within 2
weeks. Assessment findings would be divided
into two categories representing neuromuscu
lar function and mental function. Randomly
selected children falling into one of the lower
categorical percentiles would be compared to
randomly selected children in the first or sec
ond percentile, investigating environmental,
nutritional, medical, social, and genetic rea
sons for the differences in development using
methodology from a variety of disciplines.
Environmental scientists would evaluate the
schools for pesticide spraying and the use of
toxic materials and toys. Physicians would be
responsible for health information including
growth and physiological norms; environ
mental chemists would determine body levels
of contaminants; and social scientists would
391
E.A. GUILLETTE
investigate dietary, social, cultural, and envi
ronmental histories through interviews of the
parents. The disadvantages if such a study
were retrospective arc many, including a large
amount of time and expense for in-depth
evaluation in areas that may have no known
problem, lack of accurate exposure data for
mother and child, and the separation of the
multiple variables. At the same time, such a
study as described here taking place at the
time of exposure could provide clues concern
ing the results of contact with contaminants.
Further, the results from families of the chil
dren that performed the best in the testing
could provide insight for deleterious effects of
contamination on the population of children
as a whole.
Collecting Information from
Parents
The relative newness of environmental child
hood toxicology, and the lack of knowledge
regarding contaminant action in children,
require unique approaches co parent ques
tioning. Standard interviewing involves ask
ing a predetermined question to which the
respondent gives a simple answer. This
answer is then recorded, often according to
predetermined categories. The topic of
asthma serves as a good example, with a
mother answering questions about her child.
The first question is, “Does your child have
asthma?” The response is either yes or no. A
positive response is followed with various
questions, often investigating known precipi
tating causes and the frequency of attacks per
month. When this scenario is dissected, sev
eral problems emerge. Foremost is that the
“yes” answer assumes that all children with
asthmatic symptoms have had a positive med
ical diagnosis. In situations where formal
medical care is limited because of economic
or sociocultural reasons, diagnosis may be
lacking and mothers, not associating symp
toms with the named disease process, give
false negative replies in good faith.
From the time of first parental contact, it
is important that parents be made aware of
the value of their role in the research without
instilling fear or a tendency to tell the
researchers “the proper response" (i.e., telling
investigators what is believed to be what they
want to hear). Other mothers, in the belief
that help for the neighborhood would be pos
sible if there were a plethora of disease, will
claim the child has the disease even when
major symptoms are lacking. Parents tend to
forget the frequency of headaches or the
appearance of a minor rash. Intentional lying
to give the investigators the answers they
want to hear occurs with more frequency
than scientists want to admit (4(7).
1 hreatening survey questions, especially
with regard to parental habits, tend to yield
392
engage in as much play ns they rcmem c
from their own childhoods. '1 his social act o
subtle change gave rise to the investigation o
their children’s abilities through the use o
directed activities representing normal p ay,
with the scientific finding that the pestici eexposed children do lack the endurance, c0°^
dination, and mental processes found wit 1
lesser exposed children (2). Without building
on the social facts that provided information
on exposed children, it is likely that these sub
tle deficits would eventually be regarded as
normal abilities. Other social facts about
childhood development and levels of health
arc apt to emerge in the urban situation facing
multiple sources of contamination.
inaccurate data. The adults of today know
that the use of cigarettes, street drugs, and
alcohol during pregnancy is not advised.
Mothers will answer “no" to routine ques
tions, i.e. “Did you drink alcohol during preg
nancy?”, for assorted reasons, even if rhe
answer is “yes.” One way to avoid false
responses is to provide reassurance that admis
sion of use is acceptable (43). More honest
replies come from saying “Many mothers
drink alcohol during pregnancy. How often
did you drink?” The nondrinker will reply
“never.” The alcohol user is more apt to admit
to use. When use is admitted, questions about
amounts, types, etc., follow as necessary.
Additional errors in survey data collation
are due to investigators’ beliefs that parents
perceive illness in the same manner as the
medical profession. For instance, when identi
fying precipitating causes for asthma, it is
assumed that mothers automatically know,
and associate, precipitating cause with the
medically based clxssifications (i.e., pct dander
In conclusion, any research involving
childhood exposure to toxic material requires
investigation of all of the factors influencing
growth and development. The multiple
unknowns require a cross-disciplinary
and dust). With surveys, this list of "known*"
approach to research, involving ni^ALple
is usually followed by rhe answer option of “no
identified cause" or “unknown." To the best of
the mother’s knowledge, the only reason
known to her may be that the symptoms arc
worse when the child plays in the park or has
art in school. The interviewer is left with the
choice of marking “no known cause” or guess
ing at possible reasons. This scenario is based
on the assumption that asthma may be related
to contaminant exposure in some manner.
We really do not know the scope of possi
ble problems with health and development
resulting from environmental contamination.
Asking direct predetermined disease-centered
questions poses problems of omission of
important health findings. Ethnographic
interviewing, as used by social scientists, pro
vides a broad base of information when faced
with unknowns (44). Ethnographic interview
ing involves only a few basic initial questions,
with additional questions formulated accord
ing to the parent’s response without superim
posing assumptions. A sample question could
be “What bothers you most about your child’s
health?" The reply may be breathing prob
lems, to which additional questions regarding
causes, timing, and activity during respiratory
problems could be asked. Conversely, the
reply may be something totally different and
unexpected, giving insight to new concepts
about the interplay between health and conta
mination. Parents have knowledge of their
children, frequently based on feelings rather
chan on scientific objectivity. When repetition
of similar feelings occurs among various par
ents, the finding is regarded as a social fact.
These social facts provide clues for further
research. For example, the mothers of the
pesticide-exposed children in Mexico repeat
edly mentioned that their children did not
fields of science, in this nianncWiew
thought and approaches provide avenues to
explore the multifaceted problem in creative
ways. The incorporation of social facts, as
well as scientific facts, can be used to shed
new light on the growth and development of
children in contaminated urban situations.
Action is rapidly needed, for at no point
should the adverse be allowed to become
regarded as normal.
Conclusion
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sure to PCBs and related compounds on growth and activity of
children. Neurotoxicol Teratol 12:319-326 (1990).
29. Scrimshaw NS. The new paradigm of public health nutrition.
Am J Public Health May6Z2-624 (1995).
30 Nestle M, Guttmacher S. Hunger in the United States: policy
implications. Nutr Rev 50:242-245 (1992).
31. Fuentes-Afflick E, Korenbrot CC, Green J. Ethnic disparity in the
performance of prenatal risk assessment among Medicaid-eligi
ble women. Public Health Rep 110(6):764-773 (1995).
32. Kamphaus RW. Clinical Assessment of Children's Intelligence
Boston Allyn and Bacon, 1993.
33. Haviland WA. Anthropology. Fort Worth, TX:Harcourt Brace
College Publishers, 1997.
Environmental Health Perspectives • Vol 108, Supplement 3 • June 2000
40. Bernard HR. Research Methods in Anthropology, Qualitative
and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks. CA:Sage
Publications, 1994.
41. Revkin AC. As mosquito spraying continues, officials stress its
safety. The New York Times, 14 September 1999,81:2.
42. Reigart J. Roberts J. Recognition and Management of Pesticide
Poifonings. Washington. OC:U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1999.
43. Guillette EA. Performing a Community Health Assessment.
Bolinas, CAJnternational Persistent Organic Pollutants
Elimination Network, 2000.
44. Spradley J. The Ethnographic Interview. New York:Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 1979.
393
In Press: Alternatives, Winter 2002
Univversity of Waterloo, Canada
Pesticides: The Hidden Effects on Children
Elizabeth A. Guillette, Ph. D.
Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research
Much of our knowledge regarding the impacts of chemicals on children is extrapolated
from laboratory animal studies. Unfortunately, childhood risk assessment tends to center on
obvious birth defects and disease induced by one particular chemical. We should be asking if there
are impacts on apparently normal children, as found with some wildlife. This means placing the
impact of contamination in a broad based framework, investigating the status of present children as
future, functioning members of society. Inherent difficulties with such research include variations
in diet, gene pool, and life style, all of which are known to produce variations in growth and
intelligence. The absence of these variations are found in communities in a valley in Mexico.
The Indians of the Yaqui Valley of Mexico underwent a philosophical division when
modem farming and pesticides were introduced in the early 1950s. Some wanted to embrace the
new pesticides and towns formed in the region. Others preferred the traditional ranching and
agricultural methods, forming their own towns in the valley foothills.
Today, these towns are similar in the degree of modernization, diet and life style, although
the division between the use of pesticides continues to exist. Assorted types of insecticides,
herbicides and other agricultural chemicals arc used in the agricultural area. Home spraying for
insects is a common practice. The foothill population continues to shun the use of pesticides,
minimizing home use.
A quick glance at both types of towns presented normal children engaged in the usual
childhood activities. The valley parents suspected chemicals were affecting their children but could
not identify specifics. A unique approach was required to uncover any possible hidden impacts.
When children, ages 4 and 5, were asked to perform a scries of play activities representative of
developmental levels. The pesticide exposed children, as compared to the foothill children,
exhibited a series of neuro-muscular and mental deficits. They were less proficient at catching a
ball, reflective of poor eye-hand coordination. Stamina levels, measured by jumping contests,
were low. When asked to recall a promised gift and its color, many had no idea what the gift was
to be, and very few remembered the color. Foothill children always remembered the gift of a
balloon and usually its color. Most striking was differences in ability to draw a person, with the 4
year old exposed children making scribbles and the five year olds frequently making a circle at the
bottom of the paper and a line upward to represent the body. Others drew odd, shapes with
abstract divisions, where dots represented eyes and enclosed areas were body parts. These
children’s mental processing abilities contrasted greatly with the foolhi11 children ,who drew people
with accurate placement of body part and facial features.
When these same children and others were evaluation two years later, at ages 6 and 7, the
exposed children continued to lag behind in abilities. Drawings were at the foothill 4 year old
level, stamina remained low, coordination remained poor. Simple problem solving, easy for the
foothill group, was difficult. While still equal to the lesser exposed in body size, the exposed
children exhibited symptoms of illness at a rate three to four times that of the others. Of special
concern was the high rate of upper respiratory infection, indicative of a suppressed immune
system, and other symptoms such as allergy and rash, which may be indicative of various
autoimmune
The apparent permanency of these hidden deficits have far reaching implications in terms of
these children’s ability to reach full potential as functioning members of society. We should also
remember that contamination is global, with every child exposed to various pesticides in some
manner and degree. Even the degree that the tested but lesser exposed children are affected will
never be known. Thus, risk assessment must begin to ask questions beyond the visible tip of the
iceberg and delve into the hidden segments that lay beyond our view. Human research does build
on laboratory and wildlife findings, but do such finding provide for the range and depth of
possible outcomes involving humans? We are exposed to multiple individual compounds from
multiple classifications of chemicals. Until we recognize which chemicals are safe and unsafe, the
Precautionary Principle advocated for chemical approval must be applied on an individual level.
We must take precautions for ourselves and families from unnecessary exposures. Small deficits
can add up to large losses for our children and society.
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^Cirddren's environmental health issues have been recognized in
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addressed the linkages between children's health and the environment
in ci meaningful and measurable wav. In ten years the children
on this planet should be healthier and happier as a result of
the decisions and actions we all take today.
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Environniental Impact on
Health.
Foreword by : Klaus Topfer. Executive Director, UNEP
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In recem years. we have come to understand the inherent link between environmental
degradation and ill health. We have come io realize that the health of an economy and
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our children depends
in large
part on our efforts to safeguard
the environment.
•
•
••
••
Every year, over 3 million children under the age of five die due to environment-related
illnesses. Compareci to adults, children bear a disproportionate burden of disease caused
by environmental problems. World leaders have identified the need to improve children’s
environmental health as a primary goal of governments around the globe.
What World. Leaders Can Do Now
This brochure is aimed at increasing support for a coordinated effort to improve and
protect children’s environmental health and at highlighting a practical step governments
can take - the development, application and monitoring of children's environmental
health indicators.
Governments, international agencies, and non-governmental organizations need to work
together collaboratively to facilitate the development of children’s environmental health
indicators. 1 his constructive step will make a difference in the lives of children.
Children’s environmental health indicators will not only guide policies and action, and
help governments to assess the success of their programs but also will speak, more
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C hildren's environmental health indicators are
information tools that provide a snapshot of the
relationship between the environment and child
health,/ and clarify
the Xpolicy
interventions that will
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wHnC'.rcii s *11vjrcmrncrnin FI cal th and Sustainability
Focusing on children $ environmental health as explicit public policy is a. cosi-cffcctivc
strategy for the overall improvement
of human health and the environment.
A
If ;here is one thing that defines the notion of ”siistainabilityf’ it is the capacity of
children to sustain, build and improve the societies they inherit. Healthy children leant
belter and are able to lead more Aproductive lives,•' especially
in the workforce,* which
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In 2000, work? leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, which included eight
Millennium Development goals. Children*s environmental health is intrinsically linked to
a number of the broad Mdienmum Development goals. For example, .the goal
reduce
the under 5 mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 depends largely on
drastic reductions in the top two causes of child mortality — diarrhea and acute
respirator.’ infections, both of which are closely linked to environmental conditions.
to
Developing
and monitoring*-• indicators that link exposures
io specific
environmental
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threats and io health outcomes m children will allow governments io prioritize problems,
identify urgently needed actions, and monitor the effectiveness of interventions over
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Children"s environmental heahh indicators alone wL” not solve the urgent problems
facing children around the globe. But they will serve as an important tool that will
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been linked to environments! exposure::... TJni! environmental exposures are
iweeing in many coh»rw> in ’Im region: that n^' emerging ris^s arc being
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and that more and more children arc beino
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environments ivhere they are conceived and bum. -\viere they live, learn, play.
v.ork andgrov;. " - Outcome document of the Internationa!
Conference on Environmental Threats to the Health
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■jv lay f ocy$ on C^lnli Iren?
Children arc more vulnerable than adults to environmental risks in a number of wavs:
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consume more food, and
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dnnk more water than adults do, in proportion to weight. (CNM)
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Children have differeni pauems of exposure from adults, and their central
nervous, imrmme, reproductive, and digestive systems are still developing. At
certain stages of development, children’s exposure io environmental toxins can
lead to irreversible damage, which mav not occur with adults.
Children behave differently from adults — their lives take place close io the
ground where lhev
lo dust and chemicals that accumulate on
** can be exnosed
X
floors and sod. Young children explore their surroundings through hand-to-mouth
behavior, and are too voting
risks. (WHO
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C htldren need to be a targeted focus of government action and protection. Children have
little control over their environment. They
w' live in environments that are not of their own
choosing. Unlike adults, they may not be able to move to avoid dangers and exposures,
nor can they act to improve the quality of the water or air in their vicinity. By and large.
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or have the resources to make their interests known. And they are often not consulted
when noiicies are considered and made concerning their weil-beino.
[Place holder for the Diagram from Children in the Next Millennium, page 82
The Cycle ofEnvironmental Disease}
With Caption: The environmental burden of disease can weigh heavily on children who
survive io age five, and its effects may persist throughout childhood and adolescence,
into adult years, and through the next generation. Decreasing children's exposure io
harmful environmental conditions and pollutants not only improves children’s health but
also fosters a healthier adult population in the future. By contrast, recuring illnesses.
weakened immune systems, prolonged absences from school, and learning impairments
place a continuing burden on families and other caregivers, and limit the potential of
children to grow into productive adults.
Source: (CNM)
Pages 5:
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and plenty of indicators are available for determining environmental quality. What is
needed is a set of indicators that Z/rxt the quality of the environment with the health of
children so that actions can bo identified that will improve children's environmental
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Children s enviforuiiental health indicators can measure the status, trend, and response to
intervention, and will support leaders in their efforts to improve protections for children.
f pnH nniermina
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been successfully identified, studied, and understood worldwide over the past several
decades (See box on page
) Many indicaiors are used when addressing the problem of
lead evr’Osure, for example the amoum of lead in the bloodstream of children, the amount
of lead in Auasoline.
—*
* and various rates of health problems. Much more still remains to be
done to prevent lead exposures in children around the world. However, policy makers
today can make immediate improvements in the health of their children by using the
indicators already available to change specific policies.
Lead exposure is a children's environmental health Aproblem that is better understood than
most. Childhood lead, poisoning
can cause devastating
health effects in children. We have
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the information that tells us that prevention of exposure is the most effective solution to
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indicators are available to help policy makers undei stand each pan of the lead poisoning
problem and take action to solve it.
Health: liven small amounts of lead can interfere with development of the brain of a
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ciuia; eiiects can be long-term ana nreversioie. me neaitn enects oi ieaa have Deen
established in numerous epidemiological studies conducted over several decades in
countries ah over the world (bJeedfeman). Health effects front lead exposure vary with
the amount of exposure and include: anemia: reductions in IQ; learning disabilities;
impaucd
growth. hearing ano visual ana motor function; damage to fiver function.•
A
kidneys and bone formation: decrease in muscle strength; negative reproductive effects
including inlertimv; coma: convulsions: and even death.
Liood lead levels as determined by a simple blood test, are a useful indicator of the
presence of elevated levels of lead in the body.
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is due to human activities. Lead is found in the air as a result of leaded gasoline
and
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result of lead paint; in batteries, cosmetics, and ceramic ware; in food grown near
polluted areas; in drinks from cans that contain lead, in certain folk health remedies: and
in lead-con lamina led soil and dust. In the United States, even years after the use of lead
in .1naint and gasoline has been banned, an estimated one million children still have blood
lead levels that exceed the threshold for effects on behavior ana cognition.
Over the Iasi 25 years, many countries have mace major strides in halting lead poisoning
in their child populations. For example, data shows that in 14 different regions,
deci casing blood lead levels are associated with a reduction of lead m gasoline. [See
figure 1 al end of document].
The United States began to reduce the levels of lead in gasoline in the early 1970s; as a
result. US blood lead levels soon began to decrease, [sec figure 2 j. As of 1995, blood lead
levels in children under five had drooped hv 78% since rhe beginning of the nhase cm
- he availability o! information on lead exposure has made reducing lead exposure
possmic. Hiese decreases in childhood lead poisoning are a success story, but the story is
not yet tmistied. jv-anv countries have vet to remove lead from gasoline. Lead reductions
m gasoline would positively affect childhood well-being in these countries. Other sources
oi tead exposure musi be controlled as well in order for children to grow no lead-free
Page 7
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FA aF^'b-r.f; 'h"sn'-r,
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-
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her each environmental health problem, three types of measures are required:
— Exposure
indicators dial measure how children arc exposed
to the environmental
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- Health indicators that express the health effecis lhai may be related io
enviromnen t; ? 1 e xpos ure
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environmental condition and remedial actions,z such as medical treatment.
1 his model is shown schematically below and examples of how it could be applied
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environmental hazards will be, ai the best, arbitrary
and unsystematic until a core set ofgood indicators
can be widely adopted. bhnee indicators receive
media attention, they can also play a crucial role in
bringing the public's focus to the issue. Most
importantly, such indicators will provide a sound
basis for children's environmental health policies. ”
- Children in the New Millennium: Environmental
Impact on Health (fLNbl), UNEP, UbUCEI’ . and
WHO.
Hcalih and the Enviroiirnt-nt
The notion that environmental protection and health promotion requires the collaborative
work oi the environmental and health communities is relatively new. (WT<I, A Guide to
ihe Lr’obal
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one of ihe m.osi signifjeam public
hemin success stories of the iasi iwo decades: oral
*
reb’yd’"'“^crapy (OP ‘) OP ' r-e»r«nteracts the deadly loss of the body's water during
diarrhea with a simple
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?e? «!•!!>?ou<i» Stipporj Fjoerghig for Cniktreirs Envirorirnonia! ^ea'i?? indicators
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mmvidua-iy or m partnership with other countries m their region
and intergovernmental organizations such as the WHO. have moved forward on
developing mdicaiors and devisir.e methods for monitoring indicators, a global
coordinates movement does not exist. However, a growing number of international
ilg’CLU
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environment, and point to children's environmental health indicators as an important area
for governmental action.
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ot the Council front Canada. Mexico and the United States “agreed to a
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^seieclms caia mibhshm™ a core set ol children’s environmental health indicators
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A world Fit for « "mldren, United Nations General Assembly Special Session on
Children. New York, May 2002: Governments pledged to “Develop legislation,
policies end uro^ramnies. as auorovriate. al the national level and enhance
;:r<-t-,ry: co^nci'c1'011 to Arra'vent,7 inter alia,' the eyoosure.
ofchildren
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Sustainable Development, April 2002: “Recognizing that the task ofprotecting
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aavancc work on the development of childrens environmental health indicators
as a means for monitoring progress, in consultation v'ith relevant multilateral
otgi ? n Au ti o ns.’ ’
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Health and Environment Ministers of the Americas iz* HEMA\
/ < Ministerial
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annually throughout tne Region on the oasis of key indicators o] the state of
rl-ddcen^ health and the '‘elevant enx■iroi-unental condition*. ’’
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Denver Summit ofEight (G8). June 1997: ‘'Protecting the health of our children is
fnnHnmental va’ue. t 'Mildren throughout the ’world face siynificant threats
to their health from an array of environmental hazards, and we recognize
nariicv.lar wdnerabiliiies of children io environmental threats."
Pa£>v 11 k he i laviv to Act Xs Now
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orgamzatjor^ and I IN agencies to work together develop, implement. monitor arid report
on children's cnviromncnial health indicators. This call to action is not intended to
supplant efforts already underway among various researchers, governments. and
organizations. Indeed, we hope to build on the work already accomplished, linking and
consolidating efforts. and promoting international participation.
Different regions in the world have different problems and priorities, depending on their
environmental and health conditions. Because of the different environmental conditions
and health issues in different regions, it will be important to develop indicators that
reflect these differences.
i vtivi’jvi. tik/ oiiimCiiio. iiitiliiicitorai organizations. and non-,2O'v ci nnienial oigamzations
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vuvi IvrviCiCjLO UiC oh itio record m rccosnizing tlic iiiTportciiico ol locvisiris on cliiiclicn.
priri ::nri/^rcfnndmn thA link hptWAAn ^•nvirnnnt^nt anri hAoith
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identified as a necessarv sien in imoi’ovin^ the lives of children.
Environmental nolicv decisions should be based not just on the health of the average
person, but on the health and future of the most vulnerable among us - the world's
children. BvI• focusma
on the workfs children,• we invest in our rinure and the future of all
•
venerations io come
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David J. Briggs.
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✓ "The Environmental Burden of Disease on Children: Indicators and
Information Needs,” unpublished paper. Feb. 28, 2002.
Corvaian C. D Briggs, T Kjeiistrom. "The Need for Information: rmviromnemai Health
indicators. ’ C hapter 3 in uecisiQn-.M.akinc in Environmental Health (need citation]
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Reduction in Children's Exposure to Lead in the United States. ? Environmental Health
Perspectives, vol. 110. no. 0. June 2002. 563-9.
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Schwariz J l,o\\-ie\ei lead exposure and children's IQ: a jneia-anaivsis and search for a
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Smith KR. Corvaian CF, Kjcllstrcm 1. How much global ill health is attributable to
environmental lactors? Epidemiology 10 (5), 573-584. 1999.
U.S. Boa. America’s Children and the Environment: A First View of Available
Measures, Dec. 2000. EPA2"’0-R-00-005, Appendix A. Table El.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Progress since the World Summit for
Children: A Statistical Review, prepared for the United Nations Special Session on
Children. September 2001.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Children's Fund
ifUbJICEF). and World Health Organization (V/FIO), Children in the \ew \hllenn.nnn:
Environmental Impact on Health (2002). Online at www.unep.org, w ww.uniecf.org. and
www.who.inl
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World Health Organization. Health and Environment in Susiainable Development - F ive
Years After the Earth Summit. Geneva. 1997.
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r?>^ENTH.F.S TO REPLACE MEAN AS A MEASURE OF AVERAGE
Mean : is the mo&t widely used measure of average in health sciences. It does convey a
good measure for central tendency, but it would be more helpful to use either use
“Quartile” or “Percentiles’* especially in environmental health context. Here our
concern is to rind out a "risk group"' it is more a management based approach with a
dictum -good care to all, more the need more the care". We could have blood level of
particular chemical fond oni in children and find out level it begins io cause serious toxic
effects, that particular measurement could be our reference point to divide the child
population and take the percentage of children falling over and above the reference
measurement as the group for priority attention, and then work downwards.
2. SMALL r OVULATION MEAN pkuP- EUGil :mvTdENl?S GAIN
Risk approach is not always the only approach. We have learnt from die conditions like
hvneilension , that when we target entire population. irrespective of individuals al risk
and work on them.Z even a small drop
in over all ^nonidatioii
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difference in incidence of that particular
health events (disease.
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In the realm of management 'efficiency’ is the measure of “ results achieved and efforts
expended in terms of money .resource and time". So one of the most popular tool for
assessing a health intervention programme is ’‘Cost-Benefit Analysis". In this analysis.
both the numerator (results achieved eg. Life saved, disability averted) and the
denominator (cost of achieving it) are given monetary value. Apart from the correctness
of assigning monetary value to a life saved ( which often hurts the sentiment of average
Asian). There arc other very practical difficulties in countries like India where reporting
svstem for any illness is very dismal and actual magnitude of disease burden in the
community is anybody's guess. None of the western parameters can be constructive in
such situation. So do not employ this parameter for assessing the performance in Third
word countries.
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4. DAI/is AND OUALYs
Disjjh
lit} Adjusted Life Years and Quality Adjusted Life Years as a tool for assessing health
and illness in third word countries, which do not have sophisticated
and working
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until the national health system gains conlidence among the health professionals of their
respective countries. Please avoid using them as yard sticks in third word counties
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A lot of noise is made about the disease burden of environmental health
terms of
incidence and prevalence. While they arc good indicators as a base line, a relative
indicator like proportional mortality rate can be more reliable as far as its Sensivitivity
and Specificity is concerned.
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6, POLICY DECISION
The Ottawa charter of health Apromotion in 1996 has underscored the fact that the policy
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decisions taken in non-hcalth sector have their repercussion on health, directly or
indirectly. Some of the examples from India are :
a) 1 ransport sector - compulsory CNG conversion- aid in reduction of air pollution in.
Delhi
b) Judiciary - ordering relocation of polluting industry- aid in better environment in
A o ra
c) Irrigation sector — Dam construction—ecological changes
d)4 Agriculture
- support
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Indian experience has shown. Malaria can be by-product of a improper developmental
strategy. Urbanization leading io increase in construction activity which leads to
increased mosquito breeding at the construction sites. Labour migration from endemic
areas for construction, who arc largely not screened for malaria parasite, serve as
reservoir of infection. Construction of Indira Gandhi Canal in Rajasthan brought with it
mosquitoes borne disease, because no proper environment risk assessment was made.
Telecom department dig trenches for laying down cable wires, remain unattended for
v/pi Vk's together leading to mosquito breedin° which eventually contribute to diseases like
malaria.iilaria.dengue etc. Vector Borne disease could be another good indicator io assess
environmental health of children in third world countries.
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g. CONTROL OF STR.W AND/L4LS
Cows, buffallow; mules and dogs invade most of the streets in our towns. Apart from
being Lphysical
risk for children,z thev
cause traffic disorder leading*—• to increased noise
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population increase the risk of rabies among children.
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Unnecessary exposure of pregnant women to X-Ray, when it is not indicated, leads to
radiation during‘ pregnancy,
*
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•»—’ in increased risk for foetal malformation and
leukaemia.
b) abuse of medical teclmology for sex determination lead to increased female foeticide.
Consequently illegal and clandestine abortions conducted by untrained personnel in
a highly un-hvgienic. environment.
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b) While laying underground sewage pipe and drinking water pipe, the drinking water
pipe should always be running above the sewage pipe to avoid leakage contamination
c) Replacement of metal pipe with fibre pipes. The metal pipes are the source of many
heavy metal contamination of drinking water
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b) Open refuse transport — should be banned.
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not only from the hygiene point of view but also it is ’inhuman
d) Regular sanitaiy survey of Source and distribution of drinking water supply
a) Promotion of Green cities like Bangalore. Good vegetation dilutes free toxin quantity
in the atmosphere.
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b) Intense use of agricultural land with rampant use of fertilizers causes increased nitrate
contamination of ground water, which produces meth-hemoglobinemia
13. TOWN PLANNING
a) Good town planning is a must, over crowding is a risk factor for many childhood
infections like measles, chicken pox, etc
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r A*. bp« nwnv
.
A
BA Mb * * . nrpn
M
c) Jr-uiKin J units should not be permitted in residential areas.
14. PE OrLET: MOVEMENT AGAINST HAZARDOUS PROJECTS
a; Resisting proposed hazardous projects by community is also an important indicator in
Risk management and r*^romoiiiw
children's environment health. The
world
can get
** ”* Z7 * “
--1
1 ■ - - - ——— — ■
—iilMHration from Indian peoples' movements hke
h
t*;
k tlipixu r'flOVCr/'l£ilT agalHSt deforCStallOn
c) Narmada Bachao Andolan against Dams
d) Fisherman movement against trollers and deep sea fishing
e) People’s Health Movement- for increasing people’s control over health
15. FROM LITERATURE : SOME INTERESTING FINDINGS ON ENVIRONMENT
4 VB icr.77 4 I T’TI
z-% . a> Iwriu j I is
©
Developed nations with 15 percent of world population . arc responsible for /7% of ail
hazardous industrial waste. More than 80 % of gases in the atmosphere . that contribute
to the greenhouse effect, arise from production or consumption the developed world.
Heal stroke death/ case ratio is 40%
»
Reduction of Air pollution can prevent 5% of all infections
o
It is assumed that pollutants could contribute to about 2 % of the fatal cancers, mainly of
lung and bladder
e
More than 30 diseases have been linked to irrigation, the major vector-borne disease
being schistosomiasis Rapidly.
\\P55fAd\Dr.rajanpatii\Occupaiionai heaithw hkSSXCEH INDICA i OkS2.doc
a
Half the infant deaths all over the world over can be attributed to water -borne disease.
o
The disease associated with filthy water kill over 5 million people a year, many of them
being children
©
It is estimated that about 3 million deaths occur due to air pollution, globally each year
«
Air pollution stunt the growth of foetuses
•
Worm infestation (10% of total disease burden)
©
Indicator for pollution- Total suspended solids biochemical 02 demand at 20 degree
Celsius concentration of chlorine. Nitrogen and phosphorus and absence of dissolved 02
Softness ci water increased cardio-vascular diseases
-
PH-7 chiormatmation of water effective when increases less effective
p
Ammonia m water is indicator of possible bacterial, sewage animal waste pollution
non contain > .3 mg/L iron damages plumbing fixture.
*
exposure and duration important
it is estimated that the potential health gains from the efforts io tackle environment total
io nearly 80 million Daly:s a year. The interventions in the work place and pollution of
the ambient environment alone could save 36 million and 8 million Daly's a year.
respectively.
0
Air in the carbon dioxide rich environment has a very high saturation of fungi-spores jus
like those that cause allergic reactions in millions of people.
®
A study’ has revealed that children who live close to the liver estuaries flanked by heavy
industries have usually high level of alpha radioactivity in there tissues . This increases
lheir risk of developing certain forms of cancer, in particular leukaemia.
UAildu.H. wmvji i :> uivuclui> InUiv
tilcm iKrujvdui vzuiauSlS.
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proposed as a likely carcinogenic factor.
\\P55fAd\nr.rnjnnpp.iil\OccHpfltional hefli<h\CH?-SS\( ?’.h INDfCA i OkSz.hoc
®
All over the world , chlorination is used to kill germs in drinking water. Even if
chlorination did present an extremely small cancer risk, which is by no means certain the
danger would be more than outweighed b chlorine's capacity to prevent the spread of
waterborne disease such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever.
®
Some industrial chemicals including organochlorin pesticides such as DDT and
polvchlori naled biphenyl’s (PCBs) act as weak oestrogens. . The hormone oestrogen
promotes the growth of follicles, leading to the pronounced development of secondary
sex traits and. increase in sex urge in women. Oestrogen may also be linked to breast
cancer.
*
Devra Lee Dvais . a toxicologist from the US opines that" Chemicals in the environment
act like human hormones could be the cause of an unexplained increase in breast cancer”
Mar}’ Wolff of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, analysed frozen blood
samples from women who inter developed breast cancer, and found that they contained a
much higher levels of DDE a breakdown product ofDDd, than the women who did not
develop preset cancer. After a thorough study . it was revealed that organochlorins
enhance rhe metabolic pathway that converts oestradiol the body' most potent estrogens,
into 16-alpha-hydroxy-cstrone, which stimulate breast ceils to divided
.5
1 he child summit has sei coals of closing the gap bv 25 per cent of water supply and 10
percent
for sanitation.
A
*
It has been reported that about 2 percent of carboxyhemoglobin affects the ability to
intervals and 5 percent impairs
the abilitv
•Jindoe
*— lime and snare
1
*
• to *perform designed
K-/
psychomotor activities, The effects of carbon monoxide are additive with other
conditions cause hvpoxia
• A
o
Many
studies done bv
WHO have revealed that the concentration of pollutants
inside the
•
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concentration of particulate matter and benzo-z-pyreno (BAP) 'WAS FOUND TO BE
mirrnorpmc nnd
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The
7000
AA A A W* A
A A* A
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WHO recommends the safe limit for paniculate matter as 150 micrograms per cubic
metre and there is no safe li.mii for BAP in lhe air .many siudies have shown ihal the
•?O’’CC’V> o?or« pf othe*’ po'h'.irin'K inside lhe mdian kitchen E Emntl to be as much as 60
limes higher than the outdoor envinomnet.Since children spend most of the pre school
aa
IllC
U!MC
.............
ITe fere nee*
1. Ghai O.P. Gupta Piyush. Essentials Preventive Medicine.Vikas Publishing Houses
Pv» Etd, New Delhi 1999.
Be <<<a 1C3 he?
Ccttxvf* o\coy5-j
/ bO HO z
b-^ok
\\F55n\d\Dr.rajanpaiii\Occupational heaith\C?mSS\CEji iNDTCATORS2.doc
"7 \
Lo<=>
ov-< C vt '
Page 1 of2
Main Identity
From:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
"Asha Kilaru" <ashagautham@vsnl.net>
"Asha Kilaru" <ashagautham@vsnl.net>
Wednesday, November 03, 2004 10:22 PM
Fw: A Johns Hopkins Hospital Report
Apparently, storing drinking water in plastic bottles is also potentially
harmful and contaminates the water
Subject: A Johns Hopkins Hospital Report
> Also, this does not mention the chemical diphenyl that is in some
> plastics that acts as hormone disruptor.
> I've switched to stainless steel and glass and really tried to minimize
> my plastic use.
> Vasu Kilaru
> Physical Scientist
> Regional Vulnerability Assessment Program
> US Environmental Protection Agency
> National Exposure Research Laboratory
> TEL: 919.541.5332
> FAX: 919.685.3180
> Email: kilaru.yasu@_epa,goy
>
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in their Newsletters.
> This
> information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
>
Dioxin Carcinogens causes cancer. Especially breast cancer. Dprf t
> freeze your plastic water bottles’with water as this also releases
> dioxin
> in the plastic.
>
Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle hospital was on a TV program
> explaining this health hazard. (He is the manager of the Wellness
> Program
> at the hospital.) that we should not be heating our food in the
> microwave
> usm^plastic containers.
>”This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of
> fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately
> into the cells of the ZZZbody. Dioxin are carcinogens and highly toxic
> to
> the cells of our bodies.
>
Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware^orceramic
11/3/2004
Page 2 of 2
> containers tor heating food. You get the same results
>
* without
> the Dioxin.
>
So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc.,
> should
> be removed from the container and heated in something else.
>
Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. Just
> safer
> to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.
>
He said we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants
> moved
> away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the
> reasons.
>
To add to this: Saran wrap placed over foods as they are nuked,
> with
~
> the high heat, actually drips poisonous toxins into the food, use paper
> towels.
"
---------
>
PLEASE! Pass this on to your family & friends & those that are
> important in your life!
> Julie Smith Community Representative American Cancer Society Mid-South
> Division, Inc.
> 135 Ellington Road Winnsboro, La 71295-6320
> 318.412.0005 (Telephone)
> 318.412.0005 (Fax) julie.smith@cancer.org
> For cancer information 24 hours a day. seven days a week, calltoll free
> at
> 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit our Web site at www. cancer, org.
11/3/2004
Exploring the links:
Gandhi, Environment J Health
Page 1 of 1
CHC
From:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
"Ruchita Khurana" <ruchita@toxicslink.org>
<Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 4:19 PM
Is the air killing us? - Invitation to a panel discussion on Nov 17, 2004
Environment and Health Public Lecture Series
Rising asthma rates, respiratory disorders and even cancers are being widely reported especially in cities.
According to a report published by CSE, Asthma claims 500 victims every day leading to the death of
180,000 people every year. In Delhi alone one out of 10 children suffer from bronchial asthma. It is
further estimated that asthma will strike 32 million people in India by 2010.
What is clean air is becoming an increasingly difficult question to answer. From earlier concerns of
particle sizes of 10 microns, recent research shows health impacts even from nano (less than 0.1 micron)
sized particles, which can cross the blood-brain barrier. Even as our cities suffer from basic SOx, NOx
and SPM levels, questions are being raised as to how well do we monitor these levels and what they
mean for our health. Air pollution not only has a direct impact but also aggravates impacts from other
types of diseases.
To understand tills and to discuss how to move ahead in this complex area, to protect our health, are
three eminent panelists on the topic: -
Is the air killing us?
Key speaker:
Dr. B. Sengupta, Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board
Panelists:
Dr. S K Chhabra, Deptt. of Cardiorespiratory Phisiology, V. P. Chest Institute
Ms. Anumita Roychowdhury, Associate Director, Policy Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science
and Environment
(1
Moderated by Mr. Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics Link.
Date: 17th November 2004, Wednesday Time: 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
(In collaboration with India International Centre)
Ruchita Khurana
Programme Coordinator
Information and Communication
Toxics Link
H-2, Jungpura Extn.
New Delhi -110 014
Tel: +91 11 2432 8006, 2432 0711
Fax: +91 11 2432 1747
Email: ruchita@toxicslink.org
NOTE This is not a spam mail as it consists complete sender’s details. If you have received this
communication by error, please delete the email and destroy all copies of it & in case you wish to unsubscribe
our special offerings / promotions kindly send us a email with Subject "UNSUBSCRIBE", excuse us if this
was an unwanted mail for you.
-9
17-Nov-04
Page 1 of 1
Main Identity
From:
Sent:
Subject:
"India Resource Center" <info@lndiaResource.org>
"India Resource Center” <info@lndiaResource.org>
Friday, November 26, 2004 12:55 AM
Police Attack Coca-Cola Protesters, Over 350 Arrested
Nove n ber 25, 2004
vwvv.lndiaResource.org
Police Attack Coca-Cola Protest, Over 350 Arrested
http://www.indiaresource.org/press/2004/melKliganjattack.html
A massive demonstration, with over 1,000 people, was held at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in
Mehdiganj, Uttar Pradesh to demand that the bottling facility shut down. Armed police reacted
violently, beating and injuring many, including many women. Over 350 people were arrested in an
incident that is rapidly becoming part of a pattern in Coca-Cola's response to the gi owing resistance
in India - using violence Io suppress opposition.
COCA-COLA FACT SHEET
http://wvw.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2004/Brochure.pdf
ESPANOL: Coca-Cola: Destruyendo Vidas, Modes de Vida y Comunidades
http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/20Q4/cokefactespanol.html
Coca-Cola is guilty of destroying Lives, Livelihoods and Communities in India. People’s movements
all across in India have now mobilized to hold Coca-Cola accountable. And the movement is
growing everyday. Follow and support the struggles by visiting www,IndiaResource.org
SUPPORT US - Donate Now!!!
http ,7/www. indiaresource. org/donate/index.html
JOIN our mailing list by sending an email to info@IndiaResource.org with the subject SUBSCRIBE
11/26/2004
Page 1 of 1
Page 1 of3
community health ce!!
From:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
pervin jehangir <pj6iiangir@iediffmail.com>
<sochara@blr.vsm.net.in>
Thursday, December 02; 2004 6:18 PM
Fw: Bhopal, Oliver Ridley Turtles, Coca- Cola
1) Hello all,
Despite being the worst tragedy in India, victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy are still waiting for justice,
please sign your name in the message forum to show your solidarity and decide on an action.
http://www.bhopal.net/gda2004.php
For more latest info:
http://,neadlines.sifi,.com/rie\vs/fullstor;.php?id"l 3621611 &page=1
-Sidhu
2)
Dear all.
Dec 3ra 2004 will marks the 2C;h anniversary of the Bhcpa! gas disaster caused by then Union Carbide Ltd.
(now DOW Chemicals). Aii mest* yeai&, the suivivois. secund and third generations of the victims have been
fighting a prolonged and hare battle against the continuing nealth and environmental impacts of the disaster.
Now after twenty long years, the tragedy of Bhopal is far from over. The dilapidated factory still has a large
quantum of hazardous toxic wastes that continue to percolate into environment through multiple routes and
keep killing and maiming lives perpetuating the lethal legacy of the corporate criminals-the Union Carbide
(presently the DOW chemicals)-. After killing twenty thousand innocent lives at Bhopal, DOW is still busy
finding
law and punishment, disowning their responsibility to clean up the lethal mess they
■'
! I 1 I W I 1 1 \-J ways
I T W J X. to
U —' evaded
*
\ eLfnave
left behind
___ _____
__ J at Bhopal.
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJ3), a collective of national and international groups, will
be observing a candle light vigii at the Gateway of India, wiumbai on the 3rd of Dec between 7.30 to 9.00
pm to express our solidarity with the survivors of Bhopal In their struggle for Justice.
This is an occasion to express our solidarity with the fight against corporate crimes and human right
violations. Your orasanca at the vigil will net only strengthen the fight of the survivors for due justice, but also
would go a long way in preventing Bhopal’s in future by sending out a strong warning message to all
corporate criminals who put profit before everything else.
Kindly forward this mail io all your friends at Mumbai and ensure maximum participation.
Come, ter us join hands for c* i ivMik/
</iuviiiy lO 11 toCt you at Gate Way of India on 3rd night,
Yorurs
Dr. PR Arun, (India Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL), Mumbai (envirorights@yahoQ.com)
12/3/2004
Page 2 of 3
De *you Yahoo!?
Meet the aiHievy My Yahoo!
Tiy il today!
3)
Dear AH.
Please spars a minute or two to pai ucipato in our cyber action to save the
Oiive Ridley Turtles’ favourite nesting site. Tne mass nesting, or arribada.
of the Oiive Ridley Turtles is a unique natural phenomenon that occurs along the Orissa coastline.
Olive Ridley's are, like al! other sea turtles, listed as endangered animals.
Turtles are very vulnerable, as only one in every 1000 hatchlings survives to adulthood.
Over the last decade close to 100.000 aduit turtles nave suffered from human
activities at the coast of Orissa, with mecnanizeo fisning oemg the
principle cause. The present high mortality rates have been continuing for several
years. Eacii year that passes without improvement will lead to the loss of thousands
of breeding turtles and a decline in the population.
Of the many threats to the Olive Ridley Turtle and the unique eco-systems of
Orissa coast, the proposed port at Dhamra in the Shitarkanika sanctuary', is
the most immediate threat," says Sanjiv Gopal. oceans campaigner Greenpeace
India. "Greenpeace calls on the promoters or tne project. Orissa Government and
Tatas, to abandon the project, as it will destroy the natural wealth of the region
as well as one of the last world's turtle mass nesting sites."
Take Action Now! save the Olive Ridley Turtles'
Click on the link to panicipate in the Cyberaction.
http://act.greenpeace.<&ro/ams/e?a=159Q&s:=qen
To read more, visit:
http://www. greenpeace. org/india_en/news/details?item_id=65045i
I thank you on behalf of the Turtles!
Ki ran
Hejmadi
Supporter Services
You are receiving this email as a Supporter of Greenpeace
You are subscribed to this newsletter as rjvakii@yahco.co.uk
Supporter Reference no.: 911
Greenpeace Environment Trust
#3360. 13 B Main. HAL 2nd stage. Indiranagar, Bangalore - 560033
Ph: 080-51154866/61 Fax’ 080-51154862
To unsubscribe click repiy back to this mail with the Subject line as 'Unsubscribe'
(pid^Se note that ths link above will only unsubscribe you imm the e-buiieTin nsi ii will not cnncGl your membership.)
For enquiries about your membership, please email snilpa. m@uiaib.greenpeace.org
12/3/2004
Page 3 of 3
cuoring your supporter reference number as usua..
'*
>>
Jr
,.'2,*^..
,.b
,1
Ti'iU
Cena a Free re. hup:/Aw/.v.indiarcsouroe.crg/action/faxcoke.php
Coca-Cola is destroying LIVES. LIVELIHOODS and COMMUNITIES in India, Colombia and internationally.
Send a FREE FAX to Neville isueii. CEO of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, US demanding that they stop
the violence and take immediate action to aodress the serious proolems created by Coca-Cola in India.
9
For more information. htto://yiAAw.indiaresour(x.orq/campaigns/coke/2Q04/mehdiqanjgallery.htrnl and
h.ttpJ/wAv.indiaresotirce.org/campaigns/cpke/^OO-iEBrgchure^pdf
12/3/2004
Page 1 of 1
CHC
From:
To:
Sent:
Attach:
Subject:
"Reema Singh" <rsingh@idrc.org.in>
<chc@sochara.org>
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 6:26 PM
SME Call.doc
Call for Proposal - Extend of Deadline Date
Dear Sir/Madam,
This is a continuation of the request for applications on Assessing &
Mitigating Health Risks from Pollution by Small and Medium Scale
Enterprises (SMEs) Initiatives of the International Development Research
Centre's (IDRC), Ecosystem Approaches to Fluman Health Program Initiative
(Ecohealth PI). The details can be downloaded from
http j7network.i_drc.ca/en/ev-64943-201 -1 -DO_TOPIC.html or found in the
attached file.
As requested by applicants, the deadline has been extended to the 6th of
December, 2004. The applications, in form of a concept note, can be sent
electronically to sme-ecohealth@idrc.org.in or mailed to Ms. Reema Singh,
Ecosystem Approaches to Fluman Health Program Initiative, Asia SME
Competition, 208 Jor Bagh, New Delhi, India 110 003.
Thank you for forwarding this information to any contacts that may have an
interest in this proposal.
Kindly acknowledge that you have received this e-mail.
Regards,
Reema.
Reema Singh (Ms.)
Program Assistant
Ecohealth
IDRC- South Asia Regional Office,
208, Jor Bagh, New Delhi-110 003.
Ph:+ 91 11 2461 9411, Ext-107
Fax:+ 91 11 2462 2707
Web: www.idrc.ca/saro
1/
17-Nov-04
Ecohealth Competition for South, Southeast and East Asia
Assessing & Mitigating Health Risks from Pollution
by Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) Initiative
Request for Applications (RFA)
Summary
Research teams from South, Southeast and East Asia are invited to submit applications in the
form of a short concept note, to participate in the upcoming Ecohealth training workshop (India,
January 2005). The theme of the training will be on assessing and mitigating health risks from
pollution by small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), using risk analysis in an ecosystem
approaches to human health research framework. Three members of each selected team would
participate in the workshop, representing the breadth of disciplinary expertise necessary for a
successful transdisciplinary (i.e. an integrated multidisciplinary approach) applied research
project.
Introduction
The development of small and medium scale industries (SMEs) in the Asian region has been
promoted as a means for poverty alleviation given the associated opportunities for job creation,
production of export goods, and local economic growth. However, environmental emissions,
wastes, and production processes from these industrial activities often result in different types
and levels of pollution, affecting the health of workers and surrounding communities.
The International Development Research Centre’s (IDRC’s) Ecosystem Approaches to Human
Health Program Initiative (Ecohealth PI) is proposing an initiative on assessing and mitigating
health risks from pollution by SMEs in Asia that combines
1. A Training Workshop - 10 research teams will be selected through the current open
Request for Applications (RFA) process, with 2-3 members from each team attending the
workshop
2. A Proposal Development Small Grants Program - 4 small grants will be selected through
a second RFA to be posted soon after the workshop. This RFA will only be open to those
teams that had participated in the training workshop. The small grants distributed through
the second RFA will fund the completion of a full proposal, to be submitted for funding
through IDRC’s Ecohealth Pi’s regular funding mechanisms (for more details please see
“How to Approach IDRC for Funding” at http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-56760-201 -1 DO TOPIC.html)
Background on the Funding Institution
IDRC is a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to help researchers
and communities in the developing world find solutions to their social, economic, and
environmental problems through research. It is led by an International Board of Governors. The
Centre has a flexible corporate structure that allows multi-disciplinary and multicultural teams to
focus on key development problems through connecting people, institutions, and ideas.. To
define these challenges and determine how to meet them, IDRC focuses its programming centres
1
on three areas of inquiry: Social and Economic Equity; Environment and Natural Resource
Management; and Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Although
the Centre's focus on these broad areas will remain constant, specific research questions may
change as new issues emerge. More information about IDRC is available on the Internet at
http://www.idrc.ca/
Since 1996, IDRC's Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health Program Initiative (Ecohealth PI)
has supported a range of research teams and research topics through its portfolio of over 70
research projects, all related to ecosystem management and human health, in several regions of
the world: Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, Middle East and Asia. For more information
pleas see http://www.idrc.ca/ecohealth
Goal of the Initiative
The goal of the Assessing & Mitigating Health Risks from Pollution by Small and Medium
Scale Enterprises (SMEs) Initiative is to support applied research studies that will contribute to
the formulation and implementation of policies and good industry practices for sustainable
development that prioritize human health and well-being.
The Initiative will allow participants to explore the use of risk analyses within ecosystem
approaches to human health in order to develop a holistic understanding of health determinants
and risks associated with industrial pollution, and to plan for local actions to address them. It
envisages a research process based on multi-stakeholder participation that engages local
communities, the industrial sector, government authorities, and researchers, both in dialogue and
through joint actions. This multi-stakeholder dialogue is intended to lead to actions directly
related to pollution mitigation, as well as those, which could result in improved overall health.
The objective of including risk assessment in ecosystem approaches is to strengthen the potential
for multi-stakeholder consensus and participation to influence interventions, by providing
information on the relative magnitude of potential health problems. This initiative will:
(i)
enable SMEs to proactively plan pollution mitigation and prevention;
(ii)
enable the local community to effectively communicate knowledge and improve
mobilization activities aimed at SMEs and rule enforcers, which may present a
challenge to individuals within the community given the trade-offs between
employment and health risks made in developing countries;
(iii)
enable financial institutions to be more diligent in the inclusion of environmental
and social responsibility as part of their assessment of good management; and
(iv)
provide policy makers and stakeholders with the requisite evidence and tools to
better understand the complexities associated with the compliance and
enforcement of existing rules, and to plan for cost effective interventions that
address the economic and knowledge constraints of small enterprises.
Timeframe of the Initiative
This current RFA is the first stage in this multi-step Assessing & Mitigating Health Risks from
Pollution by Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) Initiative. It solicits transdisciplinary
teams to submit short concept notes focusing on environment and health linkages in the context
of SMEs in Asia. The successful candidates (10 teams) will participate in a one-week training
2
workshop in India. The purpose of this workshop is to provide training opportunities in the
methodological aspects included in ecosystem approaches to human health and risk analysis.
The training workshop will be followed by a second RFA for Proposal Development Small
Grants (4 in total). The Small Grants are intended to facilitate the development of a full proposal
over a period of five months, and the competition will be open to the ten teams who participate
in the training workshop. The four completed proposals will be presented and discussed at a final
workshop and will enter the Ecohealth Pi’s regular pipeline to be funded when they are ready
and the Pi’s budget allows (within 12-18 months of submission).
The following timeframe is envisioned for the full Initiative:
1. Current RFA period: September-November 14, 2004
2. Deadline to submit concept notes for the training workshop: December 6, 2004
3. Announcement of the ten winning teams to attend the workshop: December 23, 2004
4. Ecohealth training workshop (5 days) in Goa India: 24 - 28 January 2005
5. Second RFA period for four proposal development small grants: January 1 - March 31,
2005
6. Deadline to submit concept notes for Proposal Development Small Grants: April 1, 2005
7. Announcement of the four winning teams for Small Grants: April 29, 2005
8. Proposal development period: May - September 2005
9. Workshop to present the four completed proposals: October 2005
10. Submission of proposals to IDRC/Ecohealth for full grants: October 2005 onwards.
Geographic Scope of the Initiative
Countries to be targeted are: China, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan,
Nepal and Bangladesh.
Criteria for Eligibility for the Current RFA
This initiative targets research teams interested in developing action-oriented research studies
that use risk analysis within an ecosystem approach. Research teams must include a wide breadth
of disciplines. Team members attending the workshop must have different disciplinary
backgrounds (social sciences, health and environment related sciences). Applications for the
training workshop and competition will be open to research teams from South, Southeast and
East Asia. Research teams are required to be transdisciplinary.
Submitting a concept note
Applicants should address the following elements when putting together a concept note to
participate in the Ecohealth training workshop
• SMEs belonging to the formal or informal sector, in urban or peri-urban settings.
• Industrial pollution from point sources: solid, liquid and/or atmospheric pollutants
• Occupational and environmental exposures (from air, water, soil, and food)
• Livelihood and employment dimensions of the industries
• Health adverse effects that may range from sub-clinical biological alterations to illness
and death
• The vulnerability of affected people and ecosystems
3
•
•
•
•
Ecosystem description including social, economic, cultural and ecological interactions
Ecosystem approaches to human health methodological pillars: transdisciplinarity,
community participation and social and gender analysis
Risk assessment, communication and prevention/mitigation approaches (i.e. risk analysis
framework) that take into account the wide range of uncertainties, mismanagement
procedures, and alternatives for the proper management of industrial pollution and
environmental resources
Intellectual and logistical partnerships with like-minded initiatives and institutions,
especially in the areas of industrial ecology, industrial estate, risk analysis, ecohealth and
respective networking, are encouraged.
In addition to the analysis of exposures from specific industrial pollutants, other environmental
health hazards related to the local urban/peri-urban ecosystems might require attention during the
course of the research studies for the following reasons:
1. Certain hazards within living environments (e.g. indoor air pollution) or community
surroundings (e.g. contaminated drinking water) may produce additive or synergistic
health effects with the industrial pollutant(s) being studied and increase the vulnerability
of the exposed population.
2. It is critical that the health priorities of the community be understood, acknowledged and
addressed to the extent possible, as part of the dialogue and negotiation in a participatory
process, and particularly in the context of dialogue with community stakeholders on risk
prevention and mitigation.
Concept Note Format
The concept note must have a maximum length of seven pages, single-spaced, covering the
following elements:
• purpose and justification;
• objectives;
• methods (explaining how the risk analysis framework combined with the ecosystem
approaches to human health will be addressed);
• institutions and personnel (information on expertise and previous work in this area for
each researcher participant - short bio-notes, together with an indication of commitment
from the leading and collaborating institutions interested in participating, and a
description on how the different partners, key stakeholders and institutions intend to
collaborate);
• and utilization of research results.
The deadline to submit concept notes will be November 15th, 2004. Concept notes should be
sent by post to the following address. They can also be sent electronically to the e-mail address
given below:
Ms. Reema Singh
Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health Program Initiative
Asia SME Competition
4
208 Jor Bagh,
New Delhi, India - 110 003
E-mail: sme-ecohealth@idrc.org.in
RFA Selection criteria
The following criteria will be applied to select the ten teams eligible to send three researchers to
participate in the Training Workshop
• Scientific merit and aappropriateness of the intended objectives and methods to the
proposed activity in the context of the current competition
• Attention to transdisciplinarity, community engagement, and social and gender equity
• Inclusion of the risk analysis framework
• Plans to involve various stakeholders from communities, SMEs and policy makers in
several stages of research, including planning, design, data collection, analysis, and
dissemination
• Potential for capacity development of research team and institution
• Extent to which the proposed project has potential to influence policy
• Extent to which proposed project is likely to build the coping capacity and resilience of
the affected communities
• Existing capacity of participating institution(s) - human resources - to carry out the
research
• Team composition suitable to the tasks proposed, with a special attention paid to young
researchers in the team
• Attention to ethical considerations
The selection committee will consist of IDRC Ecohealth PI team members and two external
reviewers. Results of the selection will be announced by December 06, 2004.
Additional Information on the Proposal Development Small Grants Program
Subsequent to the Training Workshop, a second Request for Applications (RFA) will be
launched (January - March 2005) to award up to four Proposal Development Grants of CAD
50,000 each. The grants will be of five months duration (May - September, 2005). The deadline
for submission will be April 1, 2005.
Field work with stakeholder involvement will be critical to reach the maturity in proposal
development required for full funding by IDRC. In order to accomplish a proper understanding
and prediction of the challenges and uncertainties for each proposal, Ecohealth consultants will
assist the four teams through a field visit and electronic means throughout the five month grant
period. These consultant visits will include research team meetings as well as stakeholder and
community meetings with site visits.
At the completion of the Proposal Development Grants, the teams will submit their final report in
September 2005, in the form of a full proposal to IDRC. A final workshop will be organized in
October 2005 where the four research teams will present their proposal and experiences with the
process and will receive comments from their peers and the consultants. These proposals will be
5
then considered for funding through Ecohealth’s regular funding mechanisms. In this context,
IDRC will reserve the right to accept or reject the full proposals based on the quality of the
submissions and availability of funds. It may also request further refinement of research
methodologies when warranted.
These research proposals will be expected to fully integrate an ecosystem approach with risk
assessment and mitigation actions to address problems of industrial pollution and human health,
and include a substantive characterization of the social-ecological conditions in the ecosystems
of study that impact on health and environmental sustainability.
Methodological aspects to be considered in this activity
There are two main methodological aspects that guide this project, which are ecosystem
approaches to human health (Ecohealth) and risk analysis (from hazards identification to risk
mitigation). Further information is available at http://www.idrc.ca/ecohealth.
The Ecosystem approaches to human health
The ecosystem approach to human health is a holistic approach that places human beings at the
center of considerations about development, while seeking to ensure the sustainability of the
ecosystem of which people are an integral part. Development actions under this approach take
into account both the health and well-being of human beings and the sustainability of the
ecosystem. The approach is particularly appropriate for development research, because it is able
to accommodate the examination of complex social and ecological interactions that affect the
health of disadvantaged populations, and the formulation and testing of local actions.
The ecosystem approaches to human health uses a transdisciplinary framework, and participatory
and social/gender sensitive methodologies. Transdisciplinarity refers to the integrated form of
carrying out research by teams of scientists from various complementary disciplines in dialogue
with local knowledge experts. It characterizes a collaborative working process that goes beyond
the limits of individual expertises in order to generate new logical frameworks, new methods,
new intuitions and insights born from the synergy that ensues from the collaboration.
Participation of stakeholdersand representatives of various “communities” (geographic, cultural,
socio-economic, religious, labour, etc.) is envisaged here as a process through which relevant
actors can discuss and explore their different interests, to better understand the dynamics and
considerations relevant for all actors. Through this process of mutual learning, they may gain the
opportunity to influence and actively participate in making decisions related to the research and
ensuing development initiatives, and increase their likelihood of success.
Addressing issues of gender and social equity in the research agenda permits the building of a
framework that allows for a better understanding of local knowledge and of various sites of
difference that characterize the way in which people behave and are organized. A gender and
social equity approach and analysis can create a space to identify the constraints and
opportunities that exist due to the assignment of social roles. With respect to gender, for
example, the way in which each gender cooperates, divides responsibilities and resources, and
controls them, would be one level of analysis. On another level, it is important to consider the
6
reproductive role of women and levels of toxic exposure in foetuses and young children, as
women and children are more vulnerable population groups in the context of environmental
pollution and health risks. The incorporation of social equity also demands a consideration of
the impact of, for example, differences in age or social grouping.
Risk Analysis (from hazards identification to risk mitigation)
The risk analysis framework includes risk assessment, communication and mitigation measures.
“Risk” can be defined as the probability that adverse health effects associated with a given
hazard(s), will occur among a certain percentage of the exposed population, with special
attention to the most vulnerable people. Risk assessment includes qualitative and quantitative
identification of hazards, exposures, and health consequences, according to the dose response
knowledge, for the purpose of estimating risks. Uncertainties, due to random reasons and/or lack
of knowledge, and/or lack of data, regarding hazards, exposures and health effects must be
considered. The specific features of the target population, including vulnerable sub-groups, must
also be addressed.
For the toxicity assessment of many pollutants, levels regarded as the lowest observed adverse
effect level and the no observed adverse effect level have been established, and a reference dose
(RFD) is most often used to be compared with observed exposures, and used to estimate the
hazard index. Probabilistic models with different types of variables, according to the hypothesis
under work, will provide required results to be used as simple indications of a particular health
concern to the policy makers. Based on these results, risk mitigation activities must be identified,
planned and conducted by stakeholders, community, and governmental authorities. For more
information on the risk analysis framework, please visit: http://ww5v.idrc.ca/ecohealth.
Linking Ecohealth and risk mitigation
An ecosystem approach to human health is a broader framework within which risk analysis
studies can be placed. All three methodological pillars of the ecohealth approach
(transdisciplinarity, community participation and gender/social equity analysis) are relevant to
risk analysis. The risk assessment can also be used along with other factors to project a range of
future scenarios that could inform decision making processes. In this way risk could be assessed
within a context of other health and livelihood variables and used by the multi-stakeholder group
to inform decision making. These two different methodological approaches are compatible in
their ability to assess the links between human activity, socio-ecological conditions, and human
health for the purpose of implementing actions to increase the resilience of communities.
Increased resilience through the improvement of human health and well-being conditions, and
the negotiation of pollution prevention and mitigation measures with SMEs, constitutes the basis
of the proposed initiative.
7
Page 1 of 2
chc
From:
To:
Cc:
Sent:
Subject:
“Ruchita Khurana" <ruchita@toxicslink.org>
<indiracal@hotmail.com>; <chwwyod@rediffmail.com>; <ritarun@nda.vsnl.net.in>;
<bpni@bpni.org>; <prakash@unv.net.in>; <ankureducation@vsnl.net>;
<dastkarihaat@yahoo.co.in>; <aidwa@ndb.vsnl.net.in>; <prabhat@jnuniv.emet.in>;
<mobilecreches1@vsnl.net>; <chaukhat@yahoo.com>; <janmadhyam1@indiainfo.com>
"Jamuna Ramakrishna" <j.ramakrishna@hivos-india.org>; <shantum@ivpas.unv.ernet.in>;
<pramsj2001@yahoo.com>; <jaba.menon@oneworld.net>; <sujatha.nath@oneworld.net>;
<southasia@oneworld.net>; <ics@bnpl.com>; "PSS" <pss@narmada.net.in>; <ia_s@sify.com>;
<sarangi_rk@rediffmail.com>; <kanhere@hotmail.com>; <chc@sochara.org>; "dudani"
<atd@mantraonline.com>; <pravah@ndt.vsnl.net.in>; <waste@operamail.com>;
<sctripathi@rediffmail.com>; <callshiv@hotmail.com>; <ceesouth@vsnl.com>;
<jagori@del3.vsnl.net.in>; <actionindia@vsnl.com>; "Almitra Patel"
<a I mitra patel@ red iffma i I. com>
Thursday, September 16, 2004 12:55 PM
Invitation to panel discussion - Yamuna: The Lost River
Environment and Health Public Lecture Series
Yamuna has loop- been a victim of civic apathv despite of a number of court directives and action plans. In
one of the recent judgments. Supreme Court observed that no improvement is seen in the quality of water
despite Rs 400 crores spent oh Yamuna ActionTlan. The court has also setup a 10-member committee on
Augu st 472004'headed by the. urban development secretary to draft an action plan within six weeks to revive
the dying river.
The 19 major drains linked to Yamuna contribute to 90 percent of the waste-water flow and account for 81
percent of river pollution. Additionally open allotment of land along the riverbed region goes unabated
posing a threat to the ecological balance of the river. Recently a PIL filed in the. Supreme Court has
challenged the multi-crore Temple construction project covering an area of 50 acres of land along the
riverbed. This construction would not only prevent the recharge of underground water but also pollute the
river further by discharge of huge quantities of waste water.
To discuss some of the pertinent issues like urban planning, pollution status and ecology of the river
Yamuna, we invite you to a panel discussion with an eminent panel on:
Yamuna - The tost fiver
%Panelists:
Prof K T Ravi nd ran, Professor and Head, Department of Urban Design, School of Planning and
Architecture
Dr. R. C. Trivedi,* Additional Director,• Central Pollution Control Board
Mr. Dunu Roy, Director, Hazards Centre
Moderated by: Mr. Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics Link
Date: 20th September 2004, Monday Time: 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
(In collaboration with India International Centre)
Toxics Link
9/16/04
Page 2 of 2
17
helped to largely correct the relative appreciation
of the Rupee in real terms, which will help to
offset the competitive disadvantages arising from
the extensive depreciation of the East Asian
currencies, and is expected to revive our exports
and contain import growth.
64. India’s stock of external debt at endSeptember 1998 stood at U.S. $ 95.2 billion as
against U.S. $ 93.9 billion at end-March 1998.
The debt service payments, as a ratio of current
receipts, continued to improve over the years
declining from 30.2 per cent in 1991-92 to 19.5
per cent in 1997-98. The share of short-term debt
to total debt declined from 7.2 per cent at endMarch 1997 to 5.4 per cent at end-March 1998
and further to 3.7 per cent at end-September
1998. The share of concessional debt has
declined from 44.7 per cent in 1996 to 39.3 per
cent at end-March 1998 and further to 37.7 per
cent at the end of September 1998.
Social Sectors
65. The government has relied mainly on three
approaches for reduction of poverty and
unemployment viz., higher economic growth, anti
poverty and employment programmes and priority
to government expenditure on social sectors.
The poverty ratio declined from 56.4 per cent in
1973-74 to 37.3 in 1993-94 in rural areas and
from 49.0 per.cent in 1973-74 to 32.4 per cent in
1993-94 in urban areas. For the country as a
whole, the poverty ratio declined from 54.9 per
cent in 1973-74 to 36 per cent in 1993-94.
66. The Planning Commission has estimated
that, additional employment opportunities of the
order of 29.74 million were generated during
January 1,1994 to March 31,1997. This implies
an average growth rate of employment of 2.47
per cent per annum compared with 2.31 per cent
during July 1,1983 to'December 31,1993 and
2.32 per cent during January 1,1978 to June
30,1983.
67. The government has decided to set up the
Second National Commission on Labour with a
view to provide protection to millions of workers.
The main focus of the Commission would be to
suggest rationalisation of the existing labour laws
in the organised sector and an umbrella
legislation for ensuring a minimum level of
protection to the workers in the unorganised
sector.
68. Increased availability of health care and
family welfare services has resulted in reduction
of all-lndia death rate, birth rate and infant
mortality rate. The crude death rate declined from
14.9 per thousand in 1971 to 9.8 in 1991 and
further to 8.9 in 1997. Similarly, the infant mortality
rate per thousand declined from 129 in 1971 to
80 in 1991 and further to 71 in 1997. The birth
rate per thousand also declined from 36.9 in 1971
to 29.5 in 1991 and further to 27.2 in 1997.
69. Average real wages for unskilled agricultural
labour, which reflect the economic conditions of
agricultural labourers, have increased by 0.72 per
oent in 1995-96 (Agricultural year July to Juno),
4.67 per cent in 1996-97 and 4.88 per cent in
1997-98. These trends are consistent with the
view that more rapid economic growth has
brought about an improvement in living standards
of people in general.
70. Several anti-poverty measures have been
in operation for decades focussing on the poor
as the target group viz. welfare of weaker
sections, women and children, and a number of
special employment programmes for self and
wage employment in rural and urban areas. The
Central Plan and non-Plan expenditure on social
sectors comprise education, health, water supply,
sanitation, housing, slum development, social
welfare and nutrition, rural employment and
minimum basic services. As a ratio to GDP at
market prices these expenditures increased to a
record high of 1.91 per cent in 1998-99 (BE) as
compared to 1.33 per cent in 1991-92 and 1.75
per cent in 1997-98 (RE). The Central Plan
allocation for social sectors and programmes
show highest growth of about 36 p°r cent for
family welfare and Women and Child
Development in 1998-99(BE) over 1997-98 (BE).
The outlay for health has gone up by about 25
per cent in 1998-99(BE) over 1997-98 (BE).
Environment Sector
71. A country’s environmental problems vary
with its stage of development, structure of its
economy, production technologies in use and its
environmental policies. While some problems
may be associated with the lack of economic
development (e.g. inadequate sanitation and
access to clean drinking water), others are
exacerbated by the growth of economic activity
(e.g. air and water pollution). Environmental
changes may be driven by many factors including
economic
growth,
population
growth,
urbanisation, intensification of agriculture, rising
energy use and transportation. Poverty remains
at the root of several environmental problems.
18
72. Large scale industrialisation, spread of
transport, communication and other modern
infrastructure combined with the pressure of
population growth have added to the difficulties
of preserving clean environment and healthy
natural resource base. These have been exerting
pressure on environment as witnessed in growing
evidence of air and water pollution and land
degradation. For instance Delhi is now classified
as the fourth most polluted city in the world, with
a suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) of 145.3
to 929.8 microgrammes/m as against a the
National ambient air quality standard of 70 to
360 microgrammes/m . Organic and bacterial
pollution continue to be the predominant source
of pollution in our aquatic reserves. The forest
cover and globally recognised bio-diversity is also
under threat.
73. Such degradation imposes a cost on the
society, with the burden of such costs being
disproportionately high for the poor who live and
depend on such natural ecological systems. Such
costs need to be explicitly accounted for in
economic policy and planning. The challenge of
sustainable development remains formidable and
requires integration of country’s quest for
economic development with its environmental
concerns. Choice of policies and investment has
to be such which encourage cleaner production/
consumption and practices that minimise the
environmental impact.
Issues and Priorities
74. The most intractable and long-standing
issue confronting us is that of the fiscal prudence.
The various aspects of the fiscal problem, namely
the fiscal deficit, the revenue deficit, unproductive
expenditures and unsustainable subsidies are
now fairly well known. With the exception of the
initial success achieved in 1991-92 under the
pressure of the balance of payments crisis,
subsequent improvements have alternated with
set backs and reversal. As a result, the position
today is not significantly better than in 1991-92.
There is therefore a clear need for building a
political consensus on this issue in terms of both
constitutional and administrative measures that
need to be taken.
75. • The fiscal deficit is the key parameter of
macroeconomic policy, which has profound
implications for inflation, interest rates, investment,
growth, the financial system, balance of payments
and last, but by no means least, overall credibility
of Government’s macroeconomic policy. For the
Central Government the fiscal deficit simply
reflects the net borrowing requirement of the
Government. A high fiscal deficits leads to excess
borrowing from either the RBI or the market for
loanable funds. Excessive borrowing from the
RBI leads to high monetary growth, which fuels
inflation and puts pressure on the exchange rate.
When considering Government borrowing from
the market, the fiscal deficits of Centre and State
Governments need to be aggregated (in 199798 (RE) this was,,7.4 per cent of GDP). Such a
high level of Government borrowing pre-empts
funds which could otherwise have been used
productively in industry, agriculture and services.
High deficits also keep interest rates high and
investment and growth low. Excess Government
borrowing also places undue pressure on the
domestic financial system and capital markets.
There is also the long-term issue of sustainability
of fiscal deficit.
76. Long term fiscal sustainability generally
requires bringing down the Primary deficit (gross
fiscal deficit minus interest payments) to below
zero. For the Centre and States together, the
primary deficit is estimated at 2.4 per cent of
GDP in 1997-98 (RE), with little prospect of
improvement in 1998-99. A reduction in the
primary deficit to zero would, therefore, require
at least a 2.4 per cent of GDP reduction in the
fiscal deficit. If the entire adjustment falls on the
Central government, this would require a
reduction of the Central fiscal deficit to about 3.3
per cent of GDP. This target assumes that the
real interest rate in the economy is lower than
the growth rate. If this condition does not hold
for any reason, a primary surplus and
consequently a greater reduction in the fiscal
deficit would be required.
. .
77. Quite clearly, fiscal consolidation is
absolutely necessary for containing inflation,
reducing interest rates, promoting investment and
growth, and fostering reasonable stability in the
financial system and the foreign exchange market.
Experience from the rest of the world underlines
the importance of fiscal deficit reduction in regard
to reducing interest rates and inflation. It is
therefore essential to put the fiscal deficit on an
irreversible and unambiguously declining trend.
78. In a broader qualitative sense, sustainability
also depends on the quality of the government
expenditure and the nature of the tax system
underpinning the fiscal system. Concern about
the revenue deficit stems from the legitimate
concern that a significant part of revenue
19
expenditures are of low priority. These low priority
expenditures and non-targeted subsidies need
to be identified and eliminated. This is also
essentia! for freeing up funds for completing the
unfinished tasks of universal primary education,
effective public health systems and modern water
and sewage systems for the entire population.
The impact of the Fifth Pay Commission and its
aftermath on revenue deficits of Centre, States
and local bodies lends urgency to the need to
downsize government. The time has perhaps
come to reconsider the issue of constitutional
limits on the deficit as well as to take up the
challenge of reengineering government.
79. The task of reforming the tax system must
also be carried forward and completed. But such
reforms must be accompanied by determined
efforts to augument revenue mobilization through
base broadening, improved administration and
other means. The decline in the tax to GDP ratio
of recent years must be reversed.
80. The commendable but gargantuan task of
decontrol and de-bureaucratisation which every
government in the nineties has set for itself
remains unfinished. The extent and depth of the
economic distortions such controls have created
are perhaps still not fully appreciated by all, even
though the negative effect on the public is known
to all who .interact with the government. The
remaining price and distribution controls must be
eliminated. At the State level this must be
preceded by a major effort to identify such
controls. Investment controls are the second most
pernicious legacy of the control era and remain
in several infrastructure service sectors. SSI
reservation is another form of investment control.
The need to replace all quantitative restrictions
by fiscal measures was recognised even in the
eighties, yet import and export controls remain
widespread in certain sectors like agriculture.
Though reform of the foreign exchange system
has been one of the prominent areas of reform,
the operation of exchange controls still requires
improvement, particularly for exporters and
knowledge-based industries.
Similarly, though
some of the well-known financial sector controls
have been removed, many controls remain
embedded in the laws, rules, regulations, norms
and procedures.
81. The very uncertain global environment
during 1998 has brought external issues back
into focus during 1998-99. As downside risk
remains prominent in all the forecasts of the world
economy for 1999, the prominence of external
issues in our own policy making is likely to
continue in the coming year. The deceleration in
the growth of exports over the last three years
has mirrored to some extent the deceleration in
growth of exports from developing countries. It
is somewhat disturbing that the deceleration in
the dollar value of our exports has been greater.
than that of 'developing countries’ during 1997
and 1998. Though real exchange appreciation
since 1996 has contributed to this decline, we
have to now go beyond such macroeconomic
variables to address the more long-standing and
intractable structural disadvantages faced by our
exporters (relative to those of exporters in China,
Malaysia, and Thailand).
82. During the last two to three decades, the
fastest growing economies of the world have also
had fast growth of (manufactured) exports and
employment. Most of these countries have built
a much more positive environment for exports
(and investment), than we have been able to do.
This has two aspects: a liberal and flexible policy
regime for export production and marketing and
simplified rules and procedures for exporters. The
increased opportunity in the area of software and
other service exports and knowledge-based
industries has thrown up additional areas for
policy reform and procedural simplification.
83. in terms of routine interaction between
exporters and the organs of the state, such as
customs, exchange control, tax authorities and
licensing authorities (DGFT), a sea change in
approach is required to bring it on par with
successful exporters of East Asia. Even a
neighbouring country such as Sri Lanka
reportedly has a much friendlier operational
environment for exporters than India.
84. The policies applicable to export production
need to be transformed to remove the controls
and constraints facing exporters. This requires a
comprehensive re-examination of labour laws and
SSI reservation as applicable to exporters, with
a view to bring them on par with successful,
exporting countries, like China. Warehousing and
cargo handling of imports and exports at airports
and ports remains a monopoly of the state, with
the consequent deleterious effect on service. The
supply of infrastructure services like electricity,
telephones and rail transport to exporters, remain
of as poor quality as for the general economy. If
these policy and procedural steps (along with
fiscal correction) are not taken, the balance of
payments could again come under pressure.
Better export promotion policies also require a
clear recognition that high import tariffs
discourage exports, while lower tariffs enhance
the relative profitability of exports. Greater
liberalization of trade in agriculture is also
desirable for promoting exports.
85. Radical reforms in the areas of infrastructure
services, agriculture and factor markets are
necessary to initiate a virtuous cycle of export
growth, employment generation and economic
growth. With only a year left before the start of
the 21s’ century it is perhaps an appropriate time
to start preparing for a second generation of
economic reforms. Such a reform anenda
must
'W*
include reform of factor markets, public sector,
government and other public institutions, legal
systems, State level policies and procedures and
reform of critical sectors such as infrastructure,
agriculture, education, R&D and agricultural/rural
extension.
86. Within factor markets, capital markets and
the financial sector have also seen considerable
reforms. The financial collapse in East Asia and
other countries has, however, emphasized the
fact that we still have some way to go in bringing
the financial sector (including banking) to
international standards. Completion of insurance
and pension fund reforms is merely the first step
in creating strong and vibrant long-term debt
market. Other factor markets areas such as
labour, land, natural resources and corporate
management have not been tackled seriously by
reforms so far.
87. The fact that primary responsibility for social
sectors, agriculture and rural development is
generally assigned to the States under the
Constitution, underlines the importance of state
level reforms. These include fiscal reforms,
decontrol and de-licensing particularly with
respect to transport, storage and processing of
agricultural goods, reform of infrastructure sectors
like e.ectricity, canals and road transport and
decentralisation and involvement of local bodies,
including NGOs. Institutional reforms such as
those related to size and quality of government,
freedom of information, economic laws and the
legal system require involvement of the Central
and State Governments as well as the judiciary.
88. These reforms have to be designed to set
in motion a process of self-sustained, employment
promoting growth. Democratic participation and
empowerment of the people through education,
public health improvement and information/
knowledge is an essential element of such growth.
Once policy distortions that promote capital
intensity or discourage hiring of labour are
identified and removed, investment can create
more new productive jobs. Government
administration and Public institutions will need to
be transformed to recognise and appreciate the
centrality of efficient investment (physical, human
or knowledge capital) in any self-sustaining
development process.
89. The award of the Nobel Prize in Economics
to Prof. Amartya Sen has again brought home to
us (if such a reminder was needed) that growth
and development are ultimately about the
entitlements of people. Universal literacy and
compulsory primary education are necessary not
only for sustaining productive employment and
economic growth, but also for making every
individual a full participant in the democratic life
of the nation. The provision of public goods and
basic amenities like water, sewage and sanitation
must extend not just to the middle class but also
to the poorest of the poor. Research & monitoring
and control of contagious diseases and epidemics
may not be glamourous activities but often have
far reaching effect on the poor. Similarly,
strengthening of the norms of civil society and
elimination of violence and corruption will bring
substantial benefits for the poor. It is critically
important to refocus government priorities to
those areas which are the basic responsibility of
government and to withdraw from areas where
private initiatives can often achieve the goals
more efficiently.
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NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT POLICY 2004
(Draft for Comments: 30th October 2004)
Ministry of Environment and Forests
Government of India, New Delhi
2
National Environment1 Policy
(Draft For Comments: 30th October 2004)
1.
Preamble
A diverse developing society such as ours provides numerous challenges in
the economic, social, political, cultural, and environmental arenas. All of
these coalesce in the dominant imperative of alleviation of mass poverty,
reckoned in the multiple dimensions of livelihood security, health care,
education, empowerment of the disadvantaged, and elimination of gender
disparities.
The present national policies for environmental management are contained
in the National Forest Policy, 1988, the National Conservation Strategy and
Policy Statement on Environment and Development, 1992; and a Policy
Statement on Abatement of Pollution, 1992. Some sector policies such as
the National Water Policy, 2002, have also contributed towards
environmental management. Despite these policy documents a need for a
comprehensive policy statement has been evident for some time in order to
infuse a common approach to the various sectoral, cross-sectoral, including
fiscal, approaches to environmental management. As our development
challenges have evolved, and our understanding of the centrality of
environmental concerns in development has sharpened, there is also a need
to review the earlier objectives, policy instruments, and strategies.
This dynamic requires an evolving and flexible policy framework with a built
in system for monitoring and review, and where necessary, revision.
Sustainable development concerns in the sense of enhancement of human
well-being, broadly conceived,2 are a recurring theme in India’s development
philosophy. For this to occur, there is a need for balance and harmony
between economic, social and environmental needs of the country.3 India
also plays an important role in several significant international initiatives
concerned with the environment. It is a party to the key multilateral
agreements, and recognises the interdependencies among, and
transboundary character of, several environmental problems.
The National Environment Policy (NEP, 2004) is a response to our national
commitment to a clean environment, mandated in the Constitution in Articles
48 A and 51 A (g), strengthened by judicial interpretation of Article 21. It is
recognised that maintaining a healthy environment is not the state’s
1
2
2
The “Environment" comprises all entities, natural or manmade, external to oneself, which
provide value, now or perhaps in the future, to humankind. Environmental concerns relate to
their degradation through actions ofhumans.
The present day consensus reflects three foundational aspirations. First, that human beings
should be able to enjoy a decent quality oflife; second, that humanity should become capable of
respecting the finiteness of the biosphere; and third, that neither the aspiration for the good life,
nor the recognition ofbiophysical limits should preclude the search for greaterJustice in the
world.
See Tenth Five Year plan 2002-2007, Volume II, Chapter 1.
3
responsibility alone, but also that of every citizen. A spirit of partnership
should thus be realized throughout the spectrum of environmental
management in the country. While the state must galvanise its efforts, there
should also be recognition by each individual - natural or institutional, of its
responsibility towards maintaining and enhancing the quality of the
environment. The NEP, 2004 is also intended to be a statement of India’s
commitment to making a positive contribution to international efforts.
The NEP, 2004 has been motivated by the above considerations and is
intended to mainstream environmental concerns in all development
activities. It briefly describes the key environmental challenges currently and
prospectively facing the country, the objectives of environment policy,
normative principles underlying policy action, strategic themes for
intervention, broad indications of the legislative and institutional development
needed to accomplish the strategic themes, and mechanisms for
implementation and review. It has been prepared through a process of
extensive consultation with experts, as well as diverse stakeholders, and this
process is also documented.
The NEP, 2004 is intended to be a guide to action: in regulatory reform,
programmes and projects for environmental conservation; and review and
enactment of legislation, by agencies of the Central, State, and Local
Governments. It also seeks to stimulate partnerships of different
stakeholders, i.e. public agencies, local communities, the investment
community, and international development partners, in harnessing their
respective resources and strengths for environmental management. On the
whole, it is expected to do better than fiscal neutrality, and likely raise
substantial resources from outside the fiscal regime to realize its objectives.
2.
Key Environmental Challenges: Causes and Impacts
The key environmental challenges that the country faces relate to the nexus
of environmental degradation with poverty in its many dimensions, and
economic growth. These challenges are intrinsically connected with the
state of environmental resources, such as land, water, air and their flora and
fauna. The proximate drivers of environmental degradation are population
growth, technology and consumption choices, and poverty, leading to
changes in relations between people and ecosystems, and development
activities such as intensive agriculture, polluting industry, and unplanned
urbanisation. However, these factors give rise to environmental degradation
only through deeper causal linkages, in particular institutional failures,
resulting in lack of clarity or enforcement of rights of access and use of
environmental resources, policies which provide disincentives for
environmental conservation (and which may have origins in the fiscal
regime), market failures, (which may be linked to shortcomings in the
regulatory regimes), and governance constraints.
Environmental degradation is a major causal factor in enhancing and
perpetuating poverty, particularly among the rural poor, when such
degradation impacts soil fertility, quantity and quality of freshwater, air
4
quality, forests, and fisheries. The dependence of the rural poor, in
particular, tribal societies on their natural resources, especially biodiversity,
is self-evident. The poor are particularly vulnerable to loss of resilience in
ecosystems.4 Large reductions in resilience may mean that the ecosystems,
on which livelihoods are based, break down, causing distress. The loss of
the environmental resource base can result in certain groups of people being
made destitute, even if overall, the economy shows strong growth. Further,
urban environmental degradation, through lack of (or inappropriate) waste
treatment and sanitation, industry and transport related pollution, adversely
impacts air, water, and soil quality, and differentially impacts the health of
the urban poor. This, in turn, affects their capability to seek and retain
employment, attend school, and enhances gender inequalities5, all of which
perpetuate poverty.
Poverty itself can accentuate environmental degradation, given that
institutional6 failures persist. For the poor, several environmental resources
are complementary in production and consumption to other commodities
(e.g. water in relation to agricultural production, fuel-wood in relation to
consumption of food), while a number of environmental resources are a
source of income or food (e.g. fisheries, non-timber forest produce). This is
frequently a source of cumulative causation, where poverty, gender
inequalities, and environmental degradation mutually reinforce each other.
Poverty and environmental degradation are also reinforced by and linked to
population growth, which in turn, depends on a complex interaction of
diverse causal factors and stages of development.
Economic growth, in its turn,
bears a dichotomous relationship to
environmental degradation. On the one hand, growth may result in
“excessive” environmental degradation through use of natural resources and
generation of pollution aggravated by institutional failures. If impacts on the
environmental resource base are neglected, an incorrect picture is obtained
from conventional monetary estimates of national income. On the other
hand, economic growth permits improvement in environmental quality by
making available the necessary resources for environmental investments
and generating societal pressures for improved environmental behaviour
and institutional and policy change.
It is increasingly evident that poor environmental quality has adversely
affected human health. Environmental factors are estimated as being
responsible in some cases for nearly 20 percent of the burden of disease in
Resilience is the capacity ofan ecosystem to recover from shocks, and surprises, whether
manmade or natural. Ifa system loses resilience, it may be rapidly transformed to a wholly
different (and unwelcome) state when subjected to even a temporary perturbation.
5 For example, as money for medical treatment is preferentially alloca ted within households
towards treatment ofthe wage-earning men folk.
6 Which may relate to both formal institutions such as legal rights over resources, and traditional,
informal institutions, such as community norms ofresource management.
4
5
India7 and a number of environment-health factors are closely linked with
dimensions of poverty (e.g. malnutrition, lack of access to clean energy and
water). It has been established that interventions targeted at environmental
management - e.g. reducing indoor air pollution, protecting sources of safe
drinking water, sanitation measures, improved public health governance offer tremendous opportunities in reducing the incidence of a number of
critical health problems. It is also evident that these environmental protection
measures would be difficult to accomplish without extensive awareness
raising and education.
Institutional failures, referring to unclear or insufficiently enforced rights of
access to and use of environmental resources, result in environmental
degradation because third parties primarily experience impacts of such
degradation, without cost to the agents responsible for the damage. Such
rights - both community based and individual - are critical institutions
mediating the relationships between humans and the use of the
environment. Traditionally, village commons - water sources, grazing
grounds, local forests, fisheries, etc., have been protected by local
communities from overexploitation through various norms, which may
include penalties for disallowed behaviour. These norms, may, however, be
degraded through the very process of development, including urbanization,
and population growth resulting from sharp reductions in mortality, and also
through state actions which may create conditions for the strengthening of
individual over communitarian rights and in doing so allow market forces to
press for change that has adverse environmental implications. If such
access to the community resources under weakened norms continue the
resources would be degraded, and the livelihoods of the community would
suffer.
Policy failures can emerge from various sources, including the use of fiscal
instruments, such as explicit and implicit subsidies for the use of various
resources, which provide incentives for excessive use of natural resources.
Inappropriate policy can also lead to changes in commonly managed
systems, with adverse environmental outcomes.
Another major set of challenges arise from emerging global environmental
concerns such as climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, and
biodiversity loss. The key is to operationalize the principle of common but
differentiated responsibility of countries in relation to these problems.
Multilateral regimes and programmes responding to these global
environmental issues must not
adversely impact the development
opportunities of developing countries. Further, the sharing of global natural
resources must proceed only on the basis of equal sharing per-capita across
all countries.
7 Hughes et. al. 2001: Environmental health in India: Priorities in Andhra Pradesh, Environment
and Social Development Unit, South Asia Region, World Bank.
6
The causes, proximate and deeper, of degradation of key environmental
resources are discussed below (Sec. 5.2).
The Objectives of NEP 2004
3.
The principal objectives of this policy are enumerated below. These
objectives relate to current perceptions of key environmental challenges.
They may, accordingly, evolve over time:
i.
Conservation of Critical Environmental Resources:
To protect and conserve critical ecological systems and resources, and
invaluable natural and man-made heritage which are essential for life
support, livelihoods, economic growth, and a broad conception of human
well-being.
ii. Intra-generational Equity: Livelihood Security for the Poor:
To ensure equitable access to environmental resources and quality for all
sections of society, and in particular, to ensure that poor communities, which
are most dependent on environmental resources for their livelihoods, are
assured secure access to these resources.
iii. Inter-generational Equity:
To ensure judicious use of environmental resources to meet the needs and
aspirations of present and future generations.
iv. Integration of Environmental Concerns in Economic and Social
Development:
To integrate environmental concerns into policies, plans, programmes, and
projects for economic and social development.
v. Efficiency in Environmental Resource Use:
To ensure efficient use of environmental resources in the sense of reduction
in their use per unit of economic output, to minimize adverse environmental
impacts.
vi. Environmental Governance:
To apply the principles of good governance (transparency, rationality,
accountability, reduction in time and costs, and participation) to the
management and regulation of use of environmental resources.
vii. Enhancement of Resources for Environmental Conservation:
To ensure higher resource flows, comprising finance, technology,
management skills, traditional knowledge, and social capital, for
environmental conservation through mutually beneficial multistakeholder
partnerships between local communities, public agencies, and investors.
4.
Principles
7
The above objectives are to be realized through various strategic
interventions by different public authorities at Central, State, and Local
Government levels. They would also be the basis of partnerships between
public agencies, local communities, and various economic actors. However,
these strategic interventions, besides legislation and the evolution of legal
doctrines for realization of the objectives, need to be premised on a core set
of unambiguously stated principles. The following principles, accordingly,
would guide the activities of different actors in relation to this policy. Each of
these principles has an established genealogy in policy pronouncements,
jurisprudence, international environmental law, or international State
practice:
i. Human beings are at the Centre of Sustainable Development Concerns:
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development.
They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.
ii. The Right to Development:
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet
developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.
iii. Environmental protection is an integral part of the development
process:
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall
constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be
considered in isolation from it.
iv. The Precautionary Approach:
Where there are credible threats of serious or irreversible damage to key
environmental resources, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as
a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental
degradation.
v.
Economic Efficiency:
In various public actions for environmental conservation, economic efficiency
would be sought to be realized.8
This principle requires that the services of environmental resources be given
economic value, and such value to count equally with the economic values
of other goods and services, in analysis of alternative courses of action.
Further implications of this principle are as follows:
a) “Polluter Pays”: Impacts of acts of production and consumption of one
party may be visited on third parties who do not have a direct economic
8
Economic efficiency refers to the maximiza tion of welfare across all members
of a society, given its human, natural, and manmade resources, its
technology, and the preferences ofits members. Welfare is reckoned as the
aggregate ofnet value realized by each member ofsociety, in his or her
subjective perceptions, on a common monetary metric.
8
nexus with the original act. Such impacts are termed “externalities”. If the
costs (or benefits) of the externalities are not re-visited on the party
responsible for the original act, the resulting level of the entire sequence of
production or consumption, and externality, is inefficient. In such a situation,
economic efficiency may be restored by making the perpetrator of the
externality bear the cost (or benefit) of the same.
The policy will, accordingly, promote the internalisation of environmental
costs, including through the use of incentives based policy instruments,
taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear
the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without
distorting international trade and investment.
b) Cost Minimization: Where the environmental benefits of a course of
action cannot, for methodological or conceptual reasons, be imputed
economic value (as in the case of “Incomparable Entities” [see below]), in
any event the economic costs of realizing the benefits should be minimized.
Efficiency of resource use may also be accomplished by the use of policy
instruments that create incentives to minimise wasteful use and consumption
of natural resources. The principle of efficiency also applies to issues of
environmental governance by streamlining processes and procedures in
order to minimize costs and delays.
vi. Entities with “Incomparable’# Values:
Significant risks to human health, life, and environmental life-support
systems, besides certain other unique natural and man-made entities, which
may impact the well-being broadly conceived of large numbers of persons,
may be considered as ’’Incomparable” in that individuals or societies would
not accept these risks for compensation in money or conventional goods and
services. A conventional economic cost-benefit calculus would not,
accordingly, apply in their case, and such entities would have priority in
allocation of societal resources for their conservation without consideration
of direct or immediate economic benefit. *10
vii. Equity:
The cardinal principle of equity or justice requires that human beings cannot
be treated differently based on irrelevant differences between them. Equity
norms must be distinguished according to context, i.e. “procedural equity”,
relating to fair rules for allocation of entitlements and obligations, and “end
result equity”, relating to fair outcomes in terms of distribution of entitlements
and obligations. Each context, in addition, must be distinguished in terms of
“intra-generational equity”, relating to justice within societies and in particular
providing space for the participation of underprivileged men and women, and
“inter-generational equity”, relating to justice between generations.
J Termed “Incommensurable Values" in the relevant academic literature.
10 Examples of “Incomparable Entities" are unique historical monuments such as the Taj Mahal;
charismatic species such as the Tiger; or unique landscapes, such as the Valley ofFlowers.
9
Equity, in the context of this policy refers to both equity in entitlements to,
and participation of the relevant publics in processes of decision-making
over use of, environmental resources.
viii. Legal Liability:
Civil liability for environmental damage would deter environmentally harmful
actions, and compensate the victims of environmental damage.
Conceptually, the principle of legal liability may be viewed as an embodiment
in legal doctrine of the “polluter pays" approach, itself deriving from the
principle of economic efficiency.
The following alternative approaches to legal liability may apply:
a) Fault based liability
In a fault based liability regime a party is held liable if it breaches a pre
existing legal duty, for example, an environmental standard.
b) Strict liability
Strict liability imposes an obligation to compensate the victim for harm
resulting from actions or failure to take action, which may not necessarily
constitute a breach of any law or duty of care.11
ix. Public Trust Doctrine:
The State is not an absolute owner, but merely a trustee of all natural
resources, which are by nature meant for public use and enjoyment, subject
to reasonable conditions, necessary to protect the legitimate interest of a
large number of people, or for matters of strategic national interest.
x. Decentralisation:
Decentralization involves ceding or transfer of power from a Central
Authority to State and Local Authorities, in order to empower public
authorities having jurisdiction at the spatial level at which particular
environmental issues are salient, to address these issues.
xi. Integration:
Integration refers to the inclusion of environmental considerations in sectoral
policymaking, the integration of the social and natural sciences in
environment related policy research, and the strengthening of relevant
linkages among various agencies at the Central, State, and Local SelfGovernment, charged with the implementation of environmental policies.
xii. Environmental Standard Setting:
Environmental standards must reflect the economic and social development
situation in which they apply. Standards adopted in one society or context
may have unacceptable economic and social costs if applied without
discrimination in another society or context.
11
In terms of the Supreme Court's decisions in Shriram Gas Leak case and the Bhopal gas leak
case, strict liability applies whenever the liable party damages a third party.
10
Setting environmental standards would involve several considerations, i.e.
risks to human health, risks to other environmental entities, technical
feasibility, costs of compliance, and strategic considerations.
xiii. Preventive Action:
It is preferable to prevent environmental damage from occurring in the first
place, rather than attempting to restore degraded environmental resources
after the fact.
xiv. Environmental Offsetting:
There is a general obligation to protect threatened or endangered species
and natural systems that are of special importance to sustaining life,
providing livelihoods, or general well-being. If for exceptional reasons of
overriding public interest such protection cannot be provided in particular
cases, cost-effective offsetting measures must be undertaken by the
proponents of the activity to restore as nearly as may be feasible the lost
environmental services to the same publics.
5.
Strategies and Actions
The foregoing statement of policy objectives and principles are to be realized
by concrete actions in different areas relating to key environmental
challenges. A large number of such actions are currently under way, and
have been for several years, in some cases, for many decades. In some
aspects new themes would need to be pursued to realize the principles and
objectives. The following strategic themes, and outlines of actions to be
taken in each, focus on both ongoing activities, functions, and roles, as well
as new initiatives that are necessary. However, they are not necessarily a
complete enumeration in each case.
5.1 Regulatory Reforms:
The regulatory regimes for environmental conservation comprises a
legislative framework, and a set of regulatory institutions. Inadequacies in
each have resulted in accelerated environmental degradation on the one
hand, and long delays and high transactions costs in development projects
on the other. Apart from the legislation which is categorically premised on
environmental conservation, a host of sectoral and cross-sectoral laws and
policies, including fiscal regimes, also impact environmental quality (some of
these are discussed in the succeeding sections).
5.1.1 Revisiting the Legislative Framework:
The present legislative framework is broadly contained in the umbrella
Environment Protection Act 1986, the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974, the Water Cess Act 1977 and the Air (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. The law in respect of management of forests
and biodiversity is contained in the Indian Forest Act 1927, the Forest
(Conservation) Act 1980, the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 and the Bio
diversity Act 2003. There are several other enactments, which complement
the provisions of these basic enactments.
11
The following specific actions would be taken:
a) Institutionalize a holistic and integrated approach to the management of
environment and natural resources, explicitly identifying and integrating
environmental concerns in relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral policies
through review and consultation, in line with the NEP, 2004.
b) Identify emerging areas for new legislation, due to better scientific
understanding, economic and social development, and development of
multilateral environmental regimes, in line with NEP, 2004.
c) Review the body of existing legislation in order to develop synergies
among relevant statutes and regulations, eliminate obsolescence, and
amalgamate provisions with similar objectives, in line with NEP, 2004.
d) Ensure accountability of the concerned levels of Government
(Centre, State, Local) in undertaking the necessary legislative changes
in a defined time-frame, with due regard to the Objectives and
Principles of NEP, 2004, in particular, ensuring the livelihood and well
being of the poor.
5.1.2 Process related reforms
(i) Approach :
The recommendations of the Committee on Reforming Investment Approval
& Implementation Procedures (The Govindarajan Committee identified
delays in environment and forest clearances as the largest source of
delays in development projects - Appendix I), will be followed for
reviewing the existing procedures for granting clearances and other
approvals under various statutes and rules. These include the Environment
Protection Act, Forest Conservation Act, the Water (Prevention and Control
of Pollution)' Act, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and
Wildlife (Protection) Act, and Genetic Engineering Approval Committee
(GEAC) Rules under the Environment Protection Act. The objective is to
reduce delays and levels of decision-making, realize decentralization of
environmental functions, and ensure greater transparency
and
accountability.
(ii) Framework for legal action
The present approach to dealing with environmentally unacceptable
behaviour in India has been largely based on criminal processes and
sanctions. Although criminal sanctions, if successful, may create a deterrent
impact, in reality they are rarely fruitful for a number of reasons. On the other
hand, giving lower level officials the power to institute criminal prosecutions
may provide fertile opportunities for rent-seeking.
Civil law, on the other hand, offers flexibility, and its sanctions can be more
effectively tailored to particular situations. The evidentiary burdens of civil
12
proceedings are less daunting than those of criminal law. It also allows for
preventive policing through orders and injunctions to restrain prospective
pollution.
Accordingly, a judicious mix of civil and criminal processes and sanctions will
be employed in the legal regime for enforcement, through a review of the
existing legislation. Civil liability law, civil sanctions, and processes would
govern most situations of non-compliance. Criminal processes and sanctions
would be available for serious, and potentially provable, infringements of
environmental law, and their initiation would be vested in responsible
authorities. Recourse may also be had to the relevant provisions in the
Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code.
5.1.3 Substantive Reforms
(i) Environment and Forests clearances
In order to make the
actions will be taken:
clearance processes
more effective, the following
a) Encourage regulatory authorities, Central and State, to institutionalise
regional and cumulative environmental impact assessments (R/CEIAs) to
ensure that environmental concerns are identified and addressed at the
planning stage itself.
b) Give due consideration, to the quality and productivity of lands which are
proposed to be converted for development activities, as part of the clearance
process. Projects involving large-scale diversion of prime agricultural land
would require environmental clearance whether or not the proposed activity
otherwise requires environmental clearance.
c) Encourage clustering of industries and other development activities to
facilitate setting up of environmental management infrastructure, as well as
monitoring and enforcing environmental compliance. Emphasize post
project monitoring and implementation of environmental management plans
through participatory processes, involving the government, industry, and the
potentially impacted community.
d) Prohibit the diversion of dense natural forests to non-forest use, except in
site-specific cases of vital national interest. No further regularisation of
encroachment on forests should be permitted.
(ii) Coastal Areas:
Development activities in the coastal areas are regulated by means of the
Coastal Regulation Zone notifications and
Integrated Coastal Zone
Management (ICZM) Plans made under them. However, there is need to
ensure that the regulations are firmly founded on scientific principles, in
order to ensure effective protection to valuable coastal environmental
resources, without unnecessarily impeding livelihoods, or legitimate coastal
economic activity, or settlements, or infrastructure development.
13
The following actions would be taken:
a) Revisit the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notifications to make the
approach to coastal environmental regulation more holistic, and thereby
ensure protection to coastal ecological systems, coastal waters, and the
vulnerability of some coastal areas to potential sea level rise. The Integrated
Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Plans need to be comprehensive, and
prepared on scientific basis, with the participation of the local communities
both in formulation and implementation. The ICZM Plans should be reviewed
at pre-determined intervals to take account of changes in geomorphology,
economies, and settlement patterns.
b) Decentralize, to the extent feasible, the clearance of specific projects to
State environmental authorities, exempting activities, which do not cause
significant environmental impacts, and are consistent with approved ICZM
Plans.
Living
(iii)
Modified Organisms (LMOs):12
Biotechnology has an immense potential to enhance livelihoods and
contribute to the economic development of the country. On the other hand,
LMOs may pose significant risks to ecological resources, and perhaps,
human and animal health. In order to ensure that
development of
biotechnology does not lead to unforeseen adverse impacts, the following
actions will be taken:
a) Review the regulatory processes for LMOs so that all relevant scientific
knowledge is taken into account, and ecological, health, and economic
concerns are adequately addressed.
b) Periodically review the National Bio-safety guidelines and Bio-safety
Operations Manual to ensure that these are based on current scientific
knowledge.
c) Ensure the conservation of bio-diversity and human health when dealing
with LMOs in transboundary movement in a manner consistent with the
Multilateral Bio-safety Protocol.
Environmentally
(iv)
Sensitive Zones:
Environmentally Sensitive Zones may be defined as areas with identified
environmental resources with “Incomparable Values” which require special
attention for their conservation. In order to conserve and enhance these
resources, without impeding legitimate socio-economic development of
these areas, the following actions will be taken:
a) Identify and give legal status to Environmentally Sensitive Zones in the
country with environmental entities with "Incomparable values” requiring
special conservation efforts.
12
In general, Genetically Modified Organisms require evaluation oftheir potential benefits and
harms as part ofrelevant regulatory processes. The subset ofLMOs, may, however, owing tO
their potential for replication, involve environmental concerns.
14
b) Formulate area development plans for these zones on a scientific basis,
with adequate participation by the local communities.
c) Create local institutions with adequate participation for the environmental
management of such areas to ensure adherence to the approved area
development plans, which should be prepared in consultation with the local
communities.
(v) Monitoring and Enforcement:
Weak enforcement of environmental compliance is attributed to inadequate
technical capacities, monitoring infrastructure, and trained staff in
enforcement institutions. In addition, there is insufficient involvement of the
potentially impacted local communities in the monitoring of compliance, and
absence of institutionalised public-private partnerships in enhancement of
monitoring infrastructure.
The following actions would be taken:
a) Give greater legal standing to local community based organizations to
undertake monitoring of environmental compliance, and report violations to
the concerned enforcement authorities.
b) Develop feasible models of public-private partnerships to leverage
financial, technical, and management resources of the private sector in
setting up and operating infrastructure for monitoring of environmental
compliance, with ironclad safeguards against possible conflict of interest or
collusion with the monitored entities.
(vi) Use of economic principles in environmental decision-making:
It is necessary that the costs associated with the degradation and depletion
of natural resources be incorporated into the decisions of economic actors
at various levels to reverse the tendency to treat these resources as "free
goods" and to pass the costs of degradation to other sections of society, or
to future generations of the country.
At the macro-level, a system of natural resource accounting is required to
assess whether in the course of economic growth we are drawing down, or
enhancing, the natural resource base of production, including all relevant
depletable assets. In addition, the environmental costs and benefits
associated with various activities, including sectoral policies, should be
evaluated to ensure that these factors are duly taken into account in
decision-making.
The current near exclusive reliance on fiats based instruments for
environmental regulation do not permit individual actors to minimize their
own costs of compliance. This leads, on the one hand, to non-compliance in
many cases, and on the other, unnecessary diversion of societal resources
from other pressing needs. Economic instruments, of which a large, feasible
suite has emerged through practical experience in several developed and
developing countries, work by aligning the interests of economic actors with
15
environmental compliance, primarily through application of “polluter pays”.
This may ensure that for any given level of environmental quality desired,
the society-wide costs of meeting the standard are minimized. However, in
some cases, use of economic instruments may require intensive monitoring,
which too may entail significant societal costs. On the other hand, use of
existing policy instruments, such as the fiscal regime, may significantly
reduce or eliminate the need for enhanced institutional capacities to
administer the incentive based instruments. In future, accordingly, a
judicious mix of incentives based and fiats based regulatory instruments
would be considered for each specific regulatory situation.
The following actions would be taken:
a)
Strengthen the initiatives being taken by the Central Statistical
Organization in the area of natural resource accounting with a view to its
adoption in the system of national income accounts.
b)
Develop and promote the use of standardized environmental
accounting practices and standards in preparation of statutory financial
statements for large industrial enterprises, in order to encourage greater
environmental responsibility in investment decision-making, management
practices, and public scrutiny.
c)
Encourage financial institutions to adopt appraisal practices, so that
environmental risks are adequately considered in the financing of projects.
d)
Facilitate the integration of environmental values into cost-benefit
analysis to encourage more efficient allocation of resources while making
public investment and policy decisions.
e)
Prepare and implement an action plan on the use of economic
instruments for environmental regulation in specified contexts.
5.2
Enhancing and Conserving Environmental Resources:
Perverse production and consumption practices are the immediate causes of
environmental degradation, but an exclusive focus on these aspects alone is
insufficient to prevent environmental harm. The causes of degradation of
environmental resources lie ultimately in a broad range of policy, and
institutional, including regulatory shortcomings, leading to the direct causes.
However, the range of policies, and legal and institutional regimes, which
impact the proximate factors, is extremely wide, comprising fiscal and pricing
regimes, and sectoral and cross-sectoral policies, laws, and institutions.
Accordingly, apart from programmatic approaches, review and reform of
these regimes to account for their environmental consequences is essential.
In addition, there is lack of awareness of the causes and effects of
environmental degradation, and how they may be prevented, among both
specialized practitioners of the relevant professions, including policymakers,
as well as the general public, which needs to be redressed. In this
subsection, in respect of major categories of environmental resources, the
16
proximate and deeper causes of their degradation, and specific initiatives for
addressing them are outlined.
5.2.1 Land Degradation:
The degradation of land, through soil erosion, alkali-salinization, water
logging, pollution, and reduction in organic matter content has several
proximate and underlying causes. The proximate causes include loss of
forest and tree cover (leading to erosion by surface water run-off and winds),
excessive use of irrigation (in many cases without proper drainage, leading
to leaching of sodium and potassium salts), improper use of agricultural
chemicals (leading to accumulation of toxic chemicals in the soil), diversion
of animal wastes for domestic fuel (leading to reduction in soil nitrogen and
organic matter), and disposal of industrial and domestic wastes on
productive land. These in turn, are driven by implicit and explicit subsidies
for water, power, fertilizer and pesticides, and absence of conducive policies
and regulatory systems to enhance people’s incentives for afforestation and
forest conservation. It is essential that the relevant fiscal, tariffs, and sectoral
policies take explicit account of their unintentional impacts on land
degradation, if the fundamental basis of livelihoods for the vast majority of
our people is not to be irreparably damaged. In addition, to such policy
review, the following specific initiatives would be taken:
a)
Encourage adoption of science-based, and traditional sustainable
land use practices through research and development, pilot scale
demonstrations, and large scale dissemination, including farmer’s training,
and where necessary, access to institutional finance.
b)
Promote reclamation of wasteland and degraded forestland through
formulation and adoption of multistakeholder partnerships involving the land
owning agency, local communities, and investors.
c)
Prepare and implement thematic action plans for arresting and
reversing desertification.
5.2.2 Forests and Wildlife:
(i) Forests:
Forests provide a multiplicity of environmental services. Foremost among
these is the recharging of mountain aquifers, which sustain our rivers. They
also conserve the soil, and prevent floods and drought. They provide habitat
for wildlife and the ecological conditions for maintenance and natural
evolution of genetic diversity of flora and fauna. They are the traditional
homes of forest dwelling tribals, the major part by far of whose livelihoods
depend on forests. They yield timber, fuel-wood, and other forest produce,
and possess immense potential for economic benefits, in particular for local
communities, from sustainable eco-tourism.
On the other hand, in recent decades, there has been significant loss of
forest cover, although there are now tangible signs of reversal of this trend.
The principal direct cause of forest loss has been the conversion of forests
17
for agriculture, settlements, infrastructure, and industry. In addition,
commercial extraction of fuel-wood, illegal felling, and grazing of cattle, has
degraded forests. These causes, however, have their origins in the fact that
the environmental values provided by forests are not realized as direct
financial benefits by various parties, at least to the extent of exceeding the
monetary incomes from alternative uses, including those arising from illegal
use. Moreover, while since antiquity forest dwelling tribes had generally
recognized traditional community rights over the forests, on account of which
they had strong incentives to use the forests sustainably and to protect them
from encroachers, following the commencement of formal forest laws and
institutions in 1865, these rights were effectively extinguished in many parts
of the country. Such disempowerment has led to the forests becoming open
access in nature, leading to their gradual degradation in a classic
manifestation of the “ Tragedy of the Commons", besides leading to perennial
conflict between the tribals and the Forest Department, and constituting a
major denial of justice.
It is possible that some site-specific non-forest activities may yield overall
societal benefits significantly exceeding that from the environmental services
provided by the particular tract of forest. However, large scale forest loss
would lead to catastrophic, permanent change in the country’s ecology,
leading to major stress on water resources and soil erosion, with consequent
loss of agricultural productivity, industrial potential, living conditions, and the
onset of natural disasters including drought and floods. In any event, the
environmental values of converted forests must be restored, as nearly as
may be feasible, to the same publics.
The National Forest Policy, 1988, and the Indian Forest Act, as well as the
regulations under it, provide a comprehensive basis for forest conservation.
However, it is necessary, looking to some of the underlying causes of forest
loss, to take some further steps. These include:
a)
Give legal recognition of the traditional rights of forest dwelling tribes.
This would remedy a serious historical injustice, secure their livelihoods,
reduce possibilities of conflict with the Forest Departments, and provide
long-term incentives to the tribals to conserve the forests.
b)
Formulate an innovative strategy for increase of forest and tree cover
from the present level of 23 percent of the country’s land area, to 33 percent
in 2012, through afforestation of degraded forest land, wastelands, and tree
cover on private or revenue land. Key elements of the strategy would
include: (i) the implementation of multistakeholder partnerships involving the
Forest Department, local communities, and investors, with clearly defined
obligations and entitlements for each partner, following good governance
principles, to derive environmental, livelihood, and financial benefits; (ii)
rationalization of restrictions on cultivation of forest species outside notified
forests, to enable farmers to undertake social and farm forestry where their
returns are more favourable than cropping, and (iii) universalization of the
Joint Forestry Management (JFM) system throughout the country.
18
c)
Focus public investments on enhancing the density of natural forests,
mangroves conservation, and universalization of Joint Forestry
Management.
d)
Formulate an appropriate methodology for reckoning and restoring
the environmental values of forests, which are unavoidably diverted to other
uses.
e)
Formulate and implement a "Code of Best Management Practices” for
dense natural forests to realize the Objectives and Principles of NEP, 2004.
(ii) Wildlife:
The status of wildlife in a region is an accurate index of the state of
ecological resources, and thus of the natural resource base of human well
being. This is because of the interdependent nature of ecological entities
(“the web of life"). in which wildlife is a vital link.13 Moreover, several
charismatic species of wildlife embody "Incomparable Values”, and at the
same time, are a major resource base for sustainable eco-tourism.
Conservation of wildlife, accordingly, involves the protection of entire
ecosystems. However, in several cases, delineation of and restricting access
to such Protected Areas14 (PAs), as well as encroachment of human
settlements on these areas has led to man-animal conflicts. While physical
barriers may temporarily reduce such conflict, it is preferable to address their
underlying causes. These may largely arise from the non-involvement of
relevant stakeholders in identification and delineation of PAs.
In respect of Wildlife Conservation, the following elements would be
pursued:
\
a)
Expand the Protected Area (PA) network of the country, including
Conservation and Community Reserves, to give fair representation to all bio
geographic zones of the country. In doing so, develop norms for delineation
in terms of the Objectives and Principles of NEP, 2004, in particular,
participation of local communities, concerned public agencies, and other
stakeholders, to harmonize ecological and physical features with needs of
socio-economic development. It must be ensured that the overall area of the
network, in each bio-geographic zone would increase in the process.
b)
Paralleling multistakeholder partnerships for afforestation, formulate
and implement similar partnerships for enhancement of wildlife habitat in
Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves, to derive both
environmental and eco-tourism benefits.
13 For example, the presence ofpredators ("tigers ”) indicates that the prey base (“deer ") is sound, in
turn indicating that the vegetative cover ("grass’’) is healthy, for which the conservation ofsoil,
water, and absence ofpollution is essential. The last indicate conditions conducive to human
health and livelihoods.
14 Protected A reas may include forest as well as non-forest ecosystems, e.g. deserts, marine
sanctuaries, etc.
19
c)
Promote site-specific eco-development programmes in fringe areas of
PAs, to restore livelihoods and access to forest produce by local
communities owing to access restrictions in PAs.
d)
Strengthen capacities and implement measures for captive breeding
and release into the wild identified endangered species.
5.2.3. Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge, and Natural Heritage:
Biodiversity, comprises both genetic and ecosystems diversity. Loss of
biodiversity is primarily due to degradation or alteration of ecosystems, in
particular the habitats of site-specific species. Damage to such habitats
arises from land degradation, forest loss, conversion of wetlands, pollution of
and excessive water drawals from rivers, and loss of coastal ecosystems,
the reasons for which have been discussed separately. Conservation of
genetic diversity, in particular, is crucial for development of improved crop
varieties resistant to particular stresses, new pharma products, etc., apart
from ensuring the resilience of ecosystems. However, it is presently difficult
to foresee the future potential of any particular genetic resource, and
accordingly economic values are uncertain. Traditional Knowledge (TK),
referring to ethno-biology knowledge possessed by local communities,
relates to uses of various indigenous plant and faunal varieties, including in
traditional medicine, food, etc., and is potentially an important means of
unlocking the value of genetic diversity through reduction in search costs.
Natural heritage sites, including endemic “biodiversity hotspots”, sacred
groves and landscapes, are repositories of significant genetic and eco
system diversity, and the latter are also important bases for eco-tourism.
They are nature’s laboratories for evolution of wild species in response to
change in environmental conditions.
India is fortunate in having, through the efforts of dedicated scientists over
many decades,15 developed vast inventories of floral and faunal resources,
as well as ethno-biology knowledge. India is, thus well-placed to tap this
enormous resource base for benefits for the country as a whole, and local
communities in particular, provided that the genetic resources are
conserved, and appropriate Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) conferred on
local communities in respect of their ethno-biology knowledge.
A large-scale exercise has been completed for providing inputs towards a
National Biodiversity Action Plan. These inputs would be reviewed in terms
of the Objectives and Principles of NEP, 2004, scientific validity, financial
and administrative feasibility, and legal aspects. In any event, the following
measures would be taken:
a)
Strengthen the protection of areas of high endemism of genetic
resources (“biodiversity hot spots”), while providing alternative livelihoods
and access to resources to local communities who may be affected thereby.
15 For example, in institutions such as Botanical Survey ofIndia (BSI), the Zoological Survey of
India (ZSI), the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), and others.
20
b)
Pay explicit attention to the potential impacts of development projects
on biodiversity resources and natural heritage. In appraisal of such projects
by cost-benefit analysis, assign values to biodiversity resources at or near
the upper end of the range of uncertainty. In particular, ancient sacred
groves and “biodiversity hotspots” should be treated as possessing
“Incomparable Values”.
c)
Enhance ex-situ conservation of genetic resources in designated
gene banks across the country. Genetic material of threatened species of
flora and fauna must be conserved on priority.
d)
Formulate and adopt an internationally recognized system of legally
enforceable sui-generis intellectual property rights for the country’s genetic
resources, to enable the country, including where relevant the local
communities, to derive economic benefits from grant of access to these
resources.
e)
Similarly, formulate and adopt an internationally recognized system of
legally enforceable sui-generis intellectual property rights for ethno-biology
knowledge, to enable local communities to realize significant financial
benefits from permitting the use of such knowledge. Set up an on-line
database of the inventory of such ethno-biology knowledge, once the legal
regime, domestic and multilateral, fortheir protection is in place.
5.2.4 Freshwater Resources:
India’s freshwater resources comprise the single most important class of
natural endowments enabling its economy and its human settlement
patterns. The freshwater resources comprise the river systems,
groundwater, and wetlands. Each of these has a unique role, and
characteristic linkages to other environmental entities.
(i) River Systems:
■ India’s river systems typically originate in its mountain eco-systems, and
deliver the major part of their water resources to the populations in the
plains. They are subject to siltation from sediment loads due to soil loss,
itself linked to loss of forest and tree cover. They are also subject to
significant net water withdrawals along their course, due to agricultural,
industrial, and municipal use; as well as pollution from human and animal
waste, agricultural run-offs, and industrial effluents. Although the rivers
possess significant natural capacity to assimilate and render harmless many
pollutants, the existing pollution inflows in most cases substantially exceed
such natural capacities. This fact, together with progressive reductions in
stream flows, ensures that the river water quality in the vast majority of
cases declines as one goes downstream. The results include loss of aquatic
flora and fauna, leading to loss of livelihoods for river fisherfolk, significant
impacts on human health from polluted water, loss of habitat for many bird
species, and loss of inland navigation potential. Apart from these, India’s
rivers are inextricably linked with the history and religious beliefs of its
peoples, and the degradation of important river systems accordingly offends
their spiritual, aesthetic, and cultural sensibilities.
21
The broad direct causes of rivers degradation are, in turn, linked to several
policies and regulatory regimes. These include tariff policies for irrigation
systems and industrial use, which, through inadequate cost-recovery,
provide incentives for overuse near the headwork’s of irrigation systems, and
drying up of irrigation systems at the tail-ends. The result is excessive
cultivation of water intensive crops near the headwork’s, which is otherwise
inefficient, waterlogging, and alkali-salinization of soil. The irrigation tariffs
also do not yield resources for proper maintenance of irrigation systems,
leading to loss in their potential; in particular, resources are generally not
available for lining irrigation canals to prevent seepage loss. These factors
result in reduced flows in the rivers. Pollution loads are similarly linked to
pricing policies leading to inefficient use of agricultural chemicals, and
municipal and industrial water use. In particular, revenue yields for the latter
two are insufficient to install and maintain sewage and effluent treatment
plants, respectively. Pollution regulation for industries is typically not based
on formal spatial planning to facilitate clustering of industries to realize scale
economies in effluent treatment, resulting in relatively high costs of effluent
treatment, and consequent increased incentives for non-compliance. There
is, accordingly need to review the relevant pricing policy regimes and
regulatory mechanisms in terms of their likely adverse environmental
impacts.
The following comprise elements of an action plan for river systems:
a)
Promote integrated approaches to management of river basins by the
concerned river authorities, considering upstream and downstream inflows
and withdrawals by season, pollution loads and natural regeneration
capacities, to ensure maintenance of adequate flows and adherence to
water quality standards throughout their course in all seasons.
b)
Consider and mitigate the impacts on river flora and fauna, and the
resulting change in the resource base for livelihoods, of multipurpose river
valley projects, power plants, and industries.
c)
Consider mandating the installation of water saving closets and taps
in the building byelaws of urban centres.
(ii) Groundwater:
Groundwater is present in underground aquifers in many parts of the
country. Aquifers near the surface are subject to annual recharge from
precipitation, but the rate of recharge is impacted by human interference.
Deep aquifers, on the other hand, occur below a substratum of hard rock.
The deep aquifers generally contain very pure water, but since they are
recharged only over many millennia, must be conserved for use only in
periods of calamitous drought such as may happen only once in several
hundred years. The boundaries of groundwater aquifers do not generally
correspond to the spatial jurisdiction of any local public authorities or private
holdings, nor are they easily discernable, nor can withdrawals be easily
22
monitored, leading to the unavoidable situation of groundwater being an
open access resource.
The water table has been falling rapidly in many areas of the country in
recent decades. This is largely due to withdrawal for agricultural, industrial,
and urban use, in excess of annual recharge. In urban areas, apart from
withdrawals for domestic and industrial use, housing and infrastructure such
as roads, prevent sufficient recharge. In addition, some pollution of
groundwater occurs due to leaching of stored hazardous waste and use of
agricultural chemicals, in particular, pesticides. Contamination of
groundwater is also due to geogenic causes, such as leaching of arsenic
from natural deposits. Since groundwater is frequently a source of drinking
water, its pollution leads to serious health impacts.
The direct causes of groundwater depletion have their origin in the pricing
policies for electricity and diesel. In the case of electricity, where individual
metering is not practiced, a flat charge for electricity connections makes the
marginal cost of electricity effectively zero. Subsidies for diesel also reduce
the marginal cost of extraction to well below the efficient level. Given the fact
that groundwater is an open access resource, the user then “rationally” (i.e.
in terms of his individual perspective), extracts groundwater until the
marginal value to him equals his now very low marginal cost of extraction.16
The result is inefficient withdrawals of groundwater by all users, leading to
the situation of falling water tables. Support prices for several water intensive
crops with implicit price subsidies aggravate this outcome by strengthening
incentives to take up these crops rather than less water intensive ones.
Falling water tables have several perverse social impacts, apart from the
likelihood of mining of deep aquifers, "the drinking water source of last
resort'. The capital costs of pump sets and bore wells for groundwater
extraction when water tables are very deep may be relatively high, with no
assurance that water would actually be found. In such a situation, a user
who may be a marginal farmer able to borrow the money only at usurious
rates of interest, may, in case water is not found, find it impossible to repay
his debts. This may lead to destitution, or worse. Even if the impacts were
not so dire, there would be excessive use of electricity and diesel.
The efficient use of groundwater would, accordingly, require that the practice
of non-metering of electric supply to farmers be discontinued in their own
enlightened self-interest. It would also be essential to progressively ensure
that the environmental impacts are taken into account in setting electricity
tariffs, and diesel pricing.
Increased run-off of precipitation in urban areas due to impermeable
structures and infrastructure prevents groundwater recharge. This is an
additional cause of falling water tables in urban areas. In rural areas several
cost-effective contour bunding techniques have been proven to enhance
16
The marginal cost ofextraction equals the marginal cost to the farmer ofpower (“zero ") or
diesel, and a small labour and depreciation cost. The capital cost ofa bore well as well as the flat
rate connection charge are sunk costs and do not count in the marginal cost of water.
23
groundwater recharge. A number of effective traditional water management
techniques to recharge groundwater have been discontinued by the local
communities due to the onset of pump sets extraction, and need to be
revived. Finally, increase in tree cover, is also effective in enhancing
groundwater recharge.
Pollution of groundwater from agricultural chemicals is also linked to their
improper use, once again due to pricing policies, especially for chemical
pesticides, as well as agronomic practices, which do not take the potential
environmental impacts into account. While transiting through soil layers may
considerably eliminate organic pollution loads in groundwater, this is not true
of several chemical pesticides.
The following action points emerge:
a)
Take explicit account of impacts on groundwater tables of electricity
tariffs and pricing of diesel.
b)
Promote efficient water use techniques, such as sprinkler or drip
irrigation, among farmers. Provide necessary pricing, inputs, and extension
support to feasible and remunerative alternative crops from efficient water
use.
c)
Support practices of contour bunding and revival of traditional
methods for enhancing groundwater recharge.
d)
Mandate water harvesting in all new constructions in relevant urban
areas, as well as design techniques for road surfaces and infrastructure to
enhance groundwater recharge.
e)
Support R&D in cost effective techniques suitable for rural drinking
water projects for removal of arsenic and mainstream their adoption in rural
drinking water schemes in relevant areas.
(ii) Wetlands:
Wetlands, natural and manmade, freshwater or brackish, provide numerous
ecological services. They provide habitat to aquatic flora and fauna, as well
as numerous species of birds, including migratory species. The density of
birds, in particular, is an accurate indication of the ecological health of a
particular wetland. Several wetlands have sufficiently unique ecological
character as to merit international recognition as Ramsar Sites.17
Wetlands also provide freshwater for agricultural and domestic use, help
groundwater recharge, and provide livelihoods to fisher-folk. They may also
comprise an important resource for sustainable tourism and recreation.18
They may be employed as an alternative to power, technology, and capital
intensive municipal sewage plants; however, if used for this purpose without
proper reckoning of their assimilative capacity, or for dumping of solid and
17 For example, the Ch ilka Lake and the East Kolkata Wetlands.
18 For example, the Dal Lake (Srinagar), the Otacamund Lake, and the Nainital Lake.
24
hazardous waste, they may become severely polluted, leading to adverse
health impacts. The inadvertent introduction of some alien species of flora in
wetlands19 have also degraded their ecology.
Wetlands are under threat from drainage and conversion for agriculture and
human settlements, besides pollution. This happens because public
authorities or individuals having jurisdiction over wetlands derive little
revenues from them, while the alternative use may result in windfall financial
gains to them. However, in many cases, the economic values of wetlands’
environmental services may significantly exceed the value from alternative
use. On the other hand, the reduction in economic value of their
environmental services due to pollution, as well as the health costs of the
pollution itself, are not taken into account while using them as a waste dump.
There also does not yet exist a formal system of wetland regulation outside
the international commitments made in respect of Ramsar sites.
The following action points emerge:
a)
Set up a legally enforceable regulatory mechanism for identified
valuable wetlands to prevent their degradation and enhance their
conservation. Develop a national inventory of such wetlands.
b)
Formulate conservation and prudent use strategies for each
significant catalogued wetland, with participation of local communities, and
other relevant stakeholders.
c)
Formulate and implement eco-tourism strategies for identified
wetlands through multistakeholder partnerships involving public agencies,
local communities, and investors.
d)
Take explicit account of impacts on wetlands of significant
development projects during the environmental appraisal of such projects; in
particular, the reduction in economic value of wetland environmental
services should be explicitly factored into cost-benefit analyses.
e)
Consider particular unique wetlands as entities with “Incomparable
Values”, in developing strategies for their protection.
5.2.5 Mountain Ecosystems:
Mountain ecosystems play a key role in providing forest cover, feeding
perennial river systems, conserving genetic diversity, and providing an
immense resource base for livelihoods through sustainable tourism. At the
same time, they are among the most fragile of ecosystems in terms of
susceptibility to anthropogenic shocks. There has been significant adverse
impact on mountain ecosystems by way of deforestation, submergence of
river valleys, pollution of freshwater sources, despoliation of landscapes,
degradation of human habitat, loss of genetic diversity, retreat of glaciers,
and pollution. The most significant proximate causes of these are illegal
logging and commercial fuel wood collection, besides faulty construction of
19 e.g. Water Hyacinth.
25
infrastructure such as roads, power transmission lines and large dams,
unplanned urbanization and lack of enforcement of building bye-laws,
absence or disrepair of sanitation systems, setting up of polluting industries,
climate change, and excessive use of agricultural chemicals. The underlying
causes relate to absence of conducive policies to enable local communities
to derive adequate financial returns from afforestation and non-consumptive
use of forest resources, pricing policies for agricultural chemicals,
inadequate enforcement of pollution standards, poor institutional capacities
for urban and regional planning and municipal regulatory functions, and
preparation of environmental impact assessments of infrastructure; besides
absence of consensus on means of financing municipal infrastructure.
Clearly, there is need to address these shortcomings through review of the
relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral policies, and institutional capacity
building. Additionally, the following elements of an Action Plan would be
taken up:
a)
Adopt “best practice” norms for infrastructure construction in mountain
regions to avoid or minimize damage to sensitive ecosystems and despoiling
of landscapes.
b)
Encourage cultivation of traditional varieties of crops and horticulture
by promotion of organic farming, enabling farmers to realize a price
premium.
c)
Promote sustainable tourism through adoption of “best practice”
norms for tourism facilities and access to ecological resources, and
multistakeholder partnerships to enable local communities to gain better
livelihoods, while leveraging financial, technical, and managerial capacities
of investors.
d)
Consider particular unique mountainscapes as entities
“Incomparable Values”, in developing strategies for their protection.
with
5.2.6 Coastal Resources:
Coastal environmental resources comprise a diverse set of natural and
manmade assets, including mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries, coastal
forests, genetic diversity, sand dunes, geomorphologies, sand beaches, land
for agriculture and human settlements, coastal infrastructure, and heritage
sites. These provide habitats for marine species, which, in turn comprise the
resource base for large numbers of fisherfolk, protection from extreme
weather events, a resource base for sustainable tourism, and agricultural
and urban livelihoods. In recent years there has been significant degradation
of coastal resources, for which the proximate causes include poorly planned
human settlements, improper location of industries and infrastructure,
pollution from industries and settlements, and overexploitation of living
natural resources. In the future, sea level rise due to climate change may
have major adverse impacts on the coastal environment. The deeper causes
of these proximate factors lie in inadequate institutional capacities for, and
participation of local communities in, formulation and implementation of
coastal management plans, the open access nature of many coastal
26
resources, and lack of consensus on means of provision of sanitation and
waste treatment. The following further aspects may be addressed in an
action plan:
a)
Mainstream the sustainable management of mangroves into the
forestry sector regulatory regime, ensuring that they continue to provide
livelihoods to local communities.
b)
Disseminate available techniques for regeneration of coral reefs, and
support activities based on application of such techniques.
c)
Embody considerations of sea-level rise in coastal management
plans, as well as infrastructure planning and construction norms.
5.2.7 Pollution Abatement:
Pollution is the inevitable20 generation of waste streams from the production
and consumption of anything. Pollution directly impacts the quality of the
receiving medium, i.e. air, water, soil, or electromagnetic spectrum, and
when this impaired medium acts upon a receptor, say, a living being, also
impacts the receptor. In general, the impacts on the receptor are adverse,
but not always.21 Typically, ecosystems have some natural capacities to
assimilate pollution; however, these vary considerably with the nature of the
pollutant and the ecosystem. In general, it is cheaper to reduce the
emissions of pollution, than to mitigate it after generation, or to treat the
receiving medium or receptor. The impacts of pollution may differentially
impact the poor, or women, or children, or developing regions, who may also
have relatively low contributions to its generation, and accordingly the costs
and benefits of abatement may have important implications for equity.
(i) Air Pollution:
Air pollution may have adverse impacts on human health, as well the health
of other living entities, manmade heritage, and life-support systems, such as
global climate. Depending upon the lifetime of the pollutants, the location of
the source, and the prevailing air currents, the receptors may be located at
homestead, local, regional, or global levels, at time intervals from near
instantaneous, to several decades.
20 “Inevitable ”, as a consequence ofthe operation ofa fundamental natural la w, that ofincrease in
entropy ofsystems taken together with their surroundings, a derivation from the second law of
thermodynamics. “Inevitable”, however does not mean that waste generation cannot be reduced
(upto a point) within the limits of the natural law.
21 For example, several organic waste streams may ha ve adverse impacts on human health if
ingested, but may have value as plant fertilizer.
27
The direct causes of air pollution are emissions from the use of fossil energy,
and other industrial processes, and some consumption activities.22 The
deeper causes arise in a multiplicity of policy, and institutional, including
regulatory shortcomings, in particular, inefficient pricing of fossil fuel based
energy. Indoor air pollution, a special case, arises from the low societal
status of women, leading to continued use of polluting, inefficient biomass
stoves, besides pricing policies for agricultural chemicals which lead to
substitution of biomass based fertilizer by chemicals, the biomass then being
used inefficiently as fuel. These deeper causes need to be addressed
through policies and programmes for redressing women’s status, and
dialogue aimed at consideration of the environmental impacts of pricing
policies for agricultural chemicals.
In addition, the following specific actions need to be taken:
a)
Accelerate the national programmes of dissemination of improved fuel
wood stoves, and solar cookers, suited to local cooking practices.
b)
Strengthen the monitoring and enforcement of emission standards for
both point and non-point sources, with participation in monitoring by the local
communities.
c)
Prepare and implement action plans for major cities for addressing air
pollution for both point and non-point sources, relying on a judicious
combination of fiats and incentive based instruments.
d)
Formulate a national strategy for urban transport to ensure adequate
investment, public and private, in low-pollution mass transport systems.
e)
Promote reclamation of wastelands by energy plantations for rural
energy through multistakeholder partnerships involving the land owning
agencies, local communities, and investors.
(ii) Water Pollution:
The direct and indirect causes of pollution of surface (river, wetlands) water
sources, groundwater, and coastal areas have been discussed above. The
following comprise further elements of an action plan:
a)
Develop and implement, initially on a pilot scale, public-private
partnership models for setting up and operating effluent and sewage
treatment plants. Once the models are validated, progressively use public
resources, including external assistance, to catalyze such partnerships.
Enhance the capacities of municipalities for recovery of user charges for
water and sewage systems.
b)
Enhance reuse of treated sewage and industrial wastewater before
final discharge to water bodies.
22 For example, noise, smoking, cars.
28
c)
Enhance capacities for spatial planning among the State and Local
Governments, with adequate participation by local communities, to ensure
clustering of polluting industries to facilitate setting up of common effluent
treatment plants to be operated on cost recovery basis.
d)
Promote R&D in development of low cost technologies for sewage
treatment at different scales, in particular, replication of the East Kolkata
wetlands model for sewage treatment to yield multiple benefits.
e)
Take explicit account of groundwater pollution in pricing policies of
agricultural inputs, especially pesticides, and dissemination of agronomy
practices involving their use.
f)
Develop a strategy for strengthening regulation, and addressing
impacts, of ship-breaking activities on coastal and near marine resources.
(iii) Soil Pollution:
Similarly, the immediate and deeper causes of soil pollution have been
considered above. The following are elements of an action plan:
a)
Develop and implement viable models of public-private partnerships
for setting up and operating secure landfills and incinerators for toxic and
hazardous waste, both industrial and biomedical, on payment by users,
taking the concerns of local communities into account. The concerned local
communities and State Governments must have clear entitlements to
specified benefits from hosting such sites, if access is given to non-local
users.
b)
Develop and implement strategies for clean up of pre-existing toxic
and hazardous waste dumps, in particular, in industrial areas, and
reclamation of such lands for future, sustainable use.
c)
Strengthen the capacities of local bodies for segregation, recycling,
and reuse of municipal solid wastes, and setting up and operating sanitary
landfills, in particular through competitive outsourcing of solid waste
management services.
d)
Give legal recognition to, and strengthen the informal sector systems
of collection and recycling of various materials; in particular enhance their
access to institutional finance and relevant technologies.
e)
Promote organic farming of traditional crop varieties through research
in and dissemination of techniques for reclamation of land with prior
exposure to agricultural chemicals, facilitating marketing of organic
produce23 in India and abroad, including by development of transparent,
voluntary, science-based labelling schemes.
23 There is considerable evidence ofconsumer preference for organic produce, which thereby may
command a substantial premium.
29
f)
Develop and implement strategies for recycle, reuse, and final
environmentally benign disposal of plastics wastes, including through
promotion of relevant technologies, and use of incentive based instruments.
(iv) Noise Pollution:
Persistent exposure to elevated noise levels has been established to result
in significant adverse health impacts. While in many instances, the
identification of a particular sound as “noise” is unambiguous, in the case of
others, such as “music" or “chanting” or “fireworks displays”, it is inherently
subjective. In all such cases, societal well-being would require that exposure
levels to third parties be maintained below levels at which significant adverse
health impacts may occur. At the same time, it needs to be understood that
certain environments in which people choose to live and work necessarily
involve a certain level of noise. The following would comprise elements of an
Action Plan on abatement of noise pollution:
a)
Make appropriate distinctions between different environments in
terms of setting ambient noise standards, e.g. rural versus urban;
educational and medical establishments versus other areas; night
time versus daytime in residential areas; areas in the vicinity of
road, rail, and airport infrastructure; etc.
b)
Distinguish between noise standards and protection measures in
the context of occupational exposure, and environmental exposure
to third parties.
c)
Formulate noise emissions norms (e.g. loudspeaker, automobile
horns, fireworks ratings) appropriate to various activities to ensure
that exposure levels to third parties who are not participants in the
activity do not exceed prescribed ambient standards.
d)
Encourage dialogue between State/Local Authorities and
religious/community representatives on the adoption of
enforceable
specific
durations,
timings,
and
use
of
loudspeakers/fireworks, etc. in case temporary exceedance of
prescribed ambient noise standards for observance of traditional
religious/cultural/social events cannot be avoided.
5.2.8 Conservation of Manmade Heritage:
Manmade heritage reflects the prehistory, history, ways of living, and culture,
of a people. In the case of India, such heritage is at the core of our national
identity. At the same time, considerable economic value, and livelihoods
may be derived from conservation of manmade heritage and their
sustainable use, through realization of their tourism potential.
The criteria for, and processes of identification of heritage sites, besides
legislation and fiscal measures to ensure that they are not damaged or
converted by direct human interference, are outside the scope of the NEP,
2004. However, the impact of environmental quality on their conservation is
an environmental policy concern. Heritage sites may be impacted by
30
pollution, or they may face threats of inundation or conversion by
development projects. Several prominent heritage sites may be held to
possess “Incomparable Values”.
The following action points would be pursued:
a)
In setting ambient environmental standards, especially for air quality,
the potential impacts on designated heritage sites must be taken into
account.
b)
Heritage sites considered to have “Incomparable Values” would merit
stricter standards than otherwise comparable situations, and particular
attention should be paid to monitoring and enforcement of environmental
standards in their case. Integrated regional development plans should be
drawn up, with participation of the local community, to shift polluting activities
or render them much less polluting, to treat waste streams, to review
transportation options, and adopt building norms which maintain the overall
heritage ambience of the area.
c)
Impacts on designated heritage sites must be considered at the stage
of developing the terms of reference for environmental impact assessments
of projects, and consideration given to the potential impacts during appraisal,
in terms of the Objectives and Principles of NEP, 2004.
5.2.9 Climate Change:
Climate change, resulting from anthropogenic emissions of a suite of gases
(called “greenhouse gases” or GHGs) due to fossil fuel use, certain
agricultural and industrial activities, and deforestation, leading to their
increasing concentrations in the atmosphere, has the potential, over the next
few generations, to significantly alter global climate. This would result in
large changes in ecosystems, leading to possibly catastrophic disruptions of
livelihoods, economic activity, living conditions, and human health. On the
other hand, abatement of GHGs, would involve significant economic costs.
While climate change is a global environmental issue, different countries
bear different levels of responsibility for increase in atmospheric GHGs
concentrations. Further, the adverse impacts of climate change will fall
disproportionately on those who have the least responsibility for causing the
problem, in particular, developing countries, including India.
India’s GHG emissions at 1994 level were 1228 million ton (Mt) CO2
equivalent (India’s initial National Communication to UNFCCC 2004), which
is below 3% of global GHG emissions. In per-capita terms, it is 23 per cent
of the global average, and 4 per cent of USA, 8 per cent of Germany, 9 per
cent of UK and 10 per cent of Japan per capita emissions in 1994. In terms
of the GHG intensity of the economy, in Purchasing Power Parity terms,
India emitted a little above 0.4 tonne CO2 equivalent per 1000 US dollars in
2002, which is lower than those of the USA and the global average. In terms
of primary energy use, India’s share of renewable energy (being a non GHG emitting energy form) at 36 per cent is far higher than industrialized
31
countries can hope to reach in many decades. Since GHGs emissions are
directly linked to economic activity, India’s economic growth will necessarily
involve increase in GHGs emissions from the current extremely low levels.
Any constraints on the emissions of GHGs by India, whether direct, by way
of emissions targets, or indirect, will reduce growth rates.
On the other hand, India’s policies for sustainable development, by way of
promotion of energy efficiency, renewable energy, fuels mix, energy pricing,
pollution abatement, afforestation, mass transport, besides differentially
higher growth rates of less energy intensive services sectors as compared
to manufacturing, results in a relatively GHGs benign growth path.
Anthropogenic climate change, significant responsibility for which clearly
does not lie with India or other developing countries, may, on the other hand,
have severe adverse impacts on India’s precipitation patterns, ecosystems,
agricultural potential, forests, water resources, coastal and marine
resources, besides increase in range of several disease vectors. Large-scale
resources would clearly be required for adaptation measures for climate
change impacts, if catastrophic human misery is to be avoided.
Accordingly, the following would comprise essential elements of India’s
approach to multilateral efforts at addressing climate change:
a)
Adherence to the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities of different countries in respect of
both mitigation of GHGs, and adaptation measures.
b)
Reliance on multilateral approaches, as opposed to bilateral or
plurilateral or unilateral measures.
c)
Equal per-capita entitlements of global environmental resources to all
countries.
d)
5.3
Over-riding priority of the right to development.
Environmental Standards, Management Systems, Certification, and
Indicators:
5.3.1 Environmental Standards:
Environmental Standards refer both to the acceptable levels of specified
environmental quality parameters at different categories of locations
(“ambient standards”), as well as permissible levels of discharges of
specified waste streams by different classes of activities (“emission
standards”).
It is now well understood that environmental standards cannot be universal,
and each country should set standards in terms of its national priorities,
policy objectives, and resources. These standards, may, of course, vary (in
general, become more stringent) as a country develops, and has greater
32
access to technologies and financial resources for environmental
management. Environmental standards also need to relate to other
measures for risk mitigation in the country, so that a given societal
commitment of resources for achieving overall risk reduction24 yields the
maximum aggregate reduction in risk.
Specific considerations for setting ambient standards in each category of
location (residential, industrial, environmentally sensitive zones, etc.) include
the reductions in potential aggregate health risks (morbidity and mortality
combined in a single measure25) to the exposed population; the risk to
sensitive, valuable ecosystems and manmade assets; and the likely societal
costs, of achieving the proposed ambient standard.
Similarly, emissions standards for each class of activity need to be set on
the basis of general availability of the required technologies26, the feasibility
of achieving the applicable environmental quality standards at the location
(specific or category) concerned with the proposed emissions standards,
and the likely unit costs of meeting the proposed standard. It is also
important that the standard is specified in terms of quantities of pollutants
that may be emitted, and not only by concentration levels, since the latter
can often be easily met through dilution, with no actual improvement in
ambient quality. The tendency to prescribe specific abatement technologies
should also be eschewed, since these may unnecessarily increase the unit
and societal costs of achieving the ambient environmental quality, and in any
case because a technology that is considered ideal for meeting a given
emission standards may not be acceptable on other relevant parameters,
including possibly other sources of societal risk.
The following specific actions would be taken:
a)
Set up a permanent machinery comprising experts in all relevant
disciplines to review notified ambient and emissions standards in the light of
new scientific and technological information as they become available, and
changing national circumstances, ensuring adequate participation by
potentially
impacted
communities,
and
industry
associations.
b)
Strengthen the network for monitoring ambient environmental quality,
including through participation by local communities, and public-private
partnerships. Progressively ensure real-time, and on-line availability of the
monitoring data.
5.3.2 Environmental Management Systems, Ecolabeling and Certification:
24 Environmental quality is not the only source ofsocietal risk; virtually every activity ofhumans is
fraught with risk. Other sources ofrisk, which may be regulated, include safety standards for
vehicles, aircraft, water, food and pharma, contagious diseases (quarantine and
immunizations), etc. Risk mitigation in each case involves societal costs; these must be weighed
against the potential benefits
25 E.g. “Disability Adjusted Life Years" (DALY)
26 Specifically, that a range of technologies from numerous vendors should be a vailable, to
preclude windfall gains to one or a small set ofmanufacturers and resultant high costs ofthe
technologies.
33
Environmental Management Systems (EMS), such as ISO 14000, by
requiring the adoption of standardized environmental management
practices, documenting their actual use, and third party verification of the
fact, may significantly ease the public burden of monitoring and enforcement
of prescribed emissions standards. On the other hand, their adoption may
involve transaction costs, which, for small and medium enterprises may be
significant in relation to their total investment. Global harmonization of
27
EMS , however, is a safeguard against adoption of arbitrary national EMS
regimes to serve as non-tariff barriers.
Ecolabeling (and other voluntary certification mechanisms) differ from the
EMS in that they address the preferences of environmentally conscious
consumers, rather than ensuring adherence to national environmental
standards. They may involve review of the entire product cycle, from
sourcing raw materials, to final disposal of the product after use, and since
they are concerned primarily with consumer preferences, may relate to
external or ad-hoc, rather than national environmental standards. Further, at
present, non-public bodies have established several labelling schemes in
India’s export destinations, with no satisfactory evidence of being based on
scientific knowledge, or participation by the potentially affected producers.
Moreover, they may be based on prescriptions of production processes, and
not only of the product characteristics, and for this reason, their mandatory
application is inconsistent with provisions of the WTO regime.
Ecolabels, etc., clearly have the potential to be employed as trade barriers,
at least by competing firms in the export destinations, if not directly by their
Governments. The obtaining of an ecolabel, especially one granted by an
agency located in a developed country, may involve large transactions costs.
However, ecolabeled products may command significant price premia, as
well as ease of entry to markets. On the other hand, the fact of a large,
rapidly growing, environmentally conscious consumer base in India itself,
may provide the required leverage to realize significant advantages from
mutual recognition of ecolabeling schemes.
The following actions would be taken:
a)
Encourage industry associations to promote the adoption of ISO
14000 among their members, through provision of technical and training
support. Mainstream promotion of ISO 14000 in the small-scale sector in the
various promotion schemes for the sector.
b)
Encourage adoption of EMS through purchase preference for ISO
14000 goods and services for Government procurement, except for items
reserved for the small-scale sector at any given time. Mandate ISO 14000*
27
Global harmonization ofEMS however relates to achievement ofnational, not externally
imposed emission standards.
34
when a sufficient number of domestic suppliers for each good or service
have ISO 14000 certification.28
c)
Formulate "Good Practice Guidelines” for ecolabels to enhance their
scientific basis, transparency, and requirements of participation. Promote the
mutual recognition of Indian and foreign ecolabels, which adhere to the
Good Practice Guidelines, to ensure that Indian exporters enhance their
market access at lower costs.
5.4
Clean Technologies and Innovation:
Clean technologies, as distinct from “end-of-pipe” abatement technologies
minimize the generation of waste streams in the production processes
themselves, rather than treating the waste after generation. In general, clean
technologies are less intensive in use of raw materials and energy, than
conventional technologies, which rely on pollution abatement after
generation. For this reason, they may also offer significant cost advantages
to the producer.
Barriers to the adoption of clean technologies are, first, the fact that many of
them are proprietary, and protected by strong patent regimes held abroad.
The vendors, accordingly, would be able to extract large premiums in the
absence of competitive substitutes. Second, lack of capacity in development
financial institutions for appraisal of proposals for switching existing
production facilities to clean technologies. Third, the lack of coordination in
R&D efforts in India aimed at developing a shelf of commercially viable clean
technologies. The last should also be viewed against the fact that in future,
almost all commercial transfers of production technology worldwide may be
for clean technologies.
The following would comprise elements of an action plan:
a)
Encourage capacity building in the financial sector for appraising
clean technology switchover project proposals.
b)
Set up a mechanism to network technology research institutions in
the country, public and private, for cooperation in R&D for clean
technologies. Promote the dissemination of the new technologies both in
India and abroad.
c)
Consider use of revenue enhancing fiscal instruments to promote
shifts to clean technologies in both existing and new units.
5.5
Environmental Awareness, Education, and Information:
Enhancing environmental awareness is essential to harmonize patterns of
individual behaviour with the requirements of environmental conservation.
This would minimize the demands placed on the monitoring and
enforcement regimes; in fact, large-scale non-compliance would simply
28 Even firms which sell only part of their output to Government may be expected to obtain ISO
14000 certification, since it would not be cost-effective for them to maintain separate production
lines for certified and non-certified products.
35
overwhelm any feasible regulatory machinery. Awareness relates to the
general public, as well as specific sections, e.g. the youth, urban dwellers,
industrial and construction workers, municipal and other public employees,
etc. Awareness involves not only internalization of environmentally
responsible behaviour, but also enhanced understanding of the impacts of
irresponsible actions, including to public health, living conditions, and
livelihood prospects.
Environmental education is the principal means of enhancing such
awareness, both among the public at large, and among focused groups.
Such education may be formal, or informal, or a combination of both. It may
rely on educational institutions at different levels; the print, electronic, or live
media; and various other formal and informal settings.
Access to environmental information is the principal means by which
environmentally conscious stakeholders may evaluate compliance by the
concerned parties with environmental standards, legal requirements, and
covenants. They would thereby be enabled to stimulate necessary
enforcement actions, and through censure, motivate compliance. Access to
information is also necessary to ensure effective, informed participation by
potentially impacted publics in various consultation processes, such as for
preparation of environmental impact assessments and environment
management plans of development projects.
The following actions would be taken:
a)
Mainstream scientifically valid environment content in the curricula of
formal education, at primary, secondary, tertiary, and professional levels,
focusing on the content appropriate at each stage, and without increasing
the course load overall. Special mid-career training programmes may be
conducted for groups with special responsibilities, e.g. the judiciary, policy
makers, legislators, industrial managers, city and regional planners,
voluntary and community based organizations, etc.
b)
Prepare and implement a strategy for enhancing environmental
awareness among the general public, and special groups, by professional
production and airing of information products through diverse media catering
to the different target groups. The media products should, as far as possible,
eschew focusing on the achievements of public agencies, but instead
document real world events of human interest. The production, as well as
dissemination may involve public, private, and voluntary agencies.
c)
Enhance real-time, on line public access to monitoring information,
both in respect of ambient quality, as well as major point sources of
pollution. Archival data to be also made publicly available in convenient
format.
5.6
Partnerships and Stakeholder Involvement:
Conservation of the environment requires the participation of multiple
stakeholders, who may bring to bear their respective resources,
36
competencies, and perspectives, so that the outcomes of partnerships are
superior to those of each acting alone. Implementing and policy making
agencies of the Government, at Central, State, Municipal, and Panchayat
levels; the legislatures and judiciary; the public and private corporate
sectors; financial institutions; industry associations; academic and research
institutions; independent professionals and experts; the media; community
based organizations; voluntary organizations; and multilateral and bilateral
development partners may each play important roles in partnerships for the
formulation, implementation, and promotion of measures for environmental
conservation.
In seeking to realize partnerships among these diverse actors, it is essential
to eschew the confrontational posturing sometimes adopted in the past.
While it is not possible that the interests and perceptions of all stakeholders
will coincide on each occasion, nevertheless, it is necessary to realize that
progress will be seriously impeded if the motives of other partners are called
into question during public discourse. It is also essential that all partnerships
are realized through, and are carried out in terms of the principles of good
governance, in particular, transparency, accountability, cost effectiveness,
and efficiency.
A number of specific themes for partnerships have been identified above. A
generic classification of some, not exhaustive, possible partnerships is as
follows:
a)
Public-Community Partnerships, by which public agencies and local
communities cooperate in the management of a given environmental
resource, each partner bringing agreed resources, assuming specified
responsibilities, and with defined entitlements, e.g. Joint Forestry
Management.
b)
Public-Private Partnerships, by which specified public functions with
respect to environmental management are contracted out competitively to
private providers, e.g. monitoring of environmental quality.
c)
Public-Community-Private Partnerships, in terms of which the
partners assume joint responsibility for a particular environmental function,
with defined obligations and entitlements for each, with competitive selection
of the private sector partner, e.-g. afforestation of degraded forests.
d)
Public-Voluntary Organization Partnerships, similar to public-private
partnerships, in respect of functions in which voluntary organizations may
have a comparative advantage over others, the voluntary organizations, in
turn, being selected competitively, e.g. environmental awareness raising.
e)
Public-Private-Voluntary Organization Partnerships, in which the
provision of specified public responsibilities is accomplished on competitive
basis by the private sector, and the provision is monitored by competitively
selected voluntary organizations, e.g. “Build, Own, Operate” sewage and
effluent treatment plants.
37
5.7
Review of the Policy:
We live in a rapidly changing global community, in a rapidly developing,
highly diverse country. The environmental issues that are salient as of now
may evolve over time, and new ones may take their place. Scientific
understanding of environmental matters would advance rapidly. Changes in
economic structure, technologies, resource availability, in each case
nationally as well as globally, are likely, as are evolution of global
environmental regimes, and norms arising from jurisprudence.
To set forth an immutable National Environment Policy in this dynamic
situation would be unwise. A prudent course would be to provide for
updating every few years in light of new knowledge and developments, and
a comprehensive review, perhaps overhaul, in about a decade.
The following provisions are, accordingly made for review, updating, and
renewal of NEP 2004:
a)
Undertake consultations every three years with groups of diverse
stakeholders, i.e. researchers and experts, community based organizations,
industry associations, and voluntary organizations, and update the National
Environment Policy.
b)
In the third of the three-year reviews, undertake a more
comprehensive examination of the scientific and policy understanding of
environmental issues, redefine the Objectives and Principles, and recast the
Strategic Themes for Action. A new National Environment Policy should be
the outcome.
5.8
Review of Implementation:
Any policy is only as good as its implementation. The NEP, 2004 outlines a
significant number of new and continuing initiatives for enhancing
environmental conservation. These require the coordinated actions of
diverse actors, for the major part organized and stimulated by one or more
public agencies.
While coordination and review mechanisms are necessary in respect of the
individual action plans under each of the strategic themes at relevant
operational levels, a formal, periodic high level review of implementation of
the different elements of NEP, 2004 is essential. This would enhance
accountability of the different public agencies responsible for
implementation. It would also reveal practical issues in implementation,
including absence of political will at concerned levels, or official indifference.
Accordingly, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) may be
requested to review the implementation of NEP, 2004, once a year, within
three months from the close of the previous fiscal year. The findings of the
CCEA in the review should be publicly disclosed, so that stakeholders are
assured of the seriousness of the Government in ensuring implementation of
the Policy.
38
6.0
Process of Formulation of this Policy: (To be documented on completion
of the formulation process).
Page 1 of 3
E - 3>.
community
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From:
To:
Sent:
Subject:
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"E.'The Environmental Magazine" <newsletter1@emagazine.com>
<chc@sochara.org>
Thursday, December 02, 200*1 12:23 PM
OurPianei... environmental newsletter
Please give the gift, of E Magazine this holiday season.
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Week of.December 1, 2004
----- ------------------------------ -- --------------------- ’------------------------ -----
----------------- 1------ ,, IL
■ ■ ..r
kir-llin •RJ II O
> HIS WEEK
NeVvo
fi
IB-
H
|
J> i
Bush Administration Likely io Reject
Ocean Reform Recommendations
|
H
Marine conservation activists were dismayed to learn L
last week that the Bush administration is unlikely to
«
institute recommended policy changes regarding the q
way it handles ocean pollution, coastal development, H
fisheries management and other marine
S
environmental issues. The White House is mandated
to officially "respond” by December 20 to
h
recommendations set forth by the U.S. Commission on n
Ocean Policy last year.
0
n
Go to all articles - Go to this article
White House Poised io Increase
Pacific Northwest Logging
h
i;
Environmentalists are bracing for stepped-up efforts
by a re-elected Bush administration to dramatically
increase logging of old-growth trees and other
forestlands in the Pacific Northwest over the next four
years.
*
n
Li
s9
HI
Go io ail articles - Go to this article
n
Reporting by Roddy Scheer
H
SPECIAL APPEAL
E•»>
•.
II
.I
n
li
Four More Years? We're Ready for
the Challenge—But We Need Your
Help.
l
~
h
Read more
9
THIS WEEK’S COMMENTARY
I
Down on the Filthy Farm
i;
An investigative report in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer
Ji
November 27 makes it olain whv larae corporate
n
12/6/2004
Page 2 of 3
£
••
animal farms are terrible neighbors-and why
h
communities that welcomed them in often regret their g
decision. By Jim Motavalli
Go to all articles - Go to this article
IM THE CURRENT ISSUE OF E
GREEN LIVING
Peru’s Wild Life
Touring The Amazon Basin
With hundreds of species going extinct every day in
the world’s tropical rainforests, eco-travelers need to
see Peru’s cradle of the world's biodiversity while
there are still intact tracts. Posada Amazonas, an ecoiodge along the Tambopata River deep in Peru’s
Amazon basin, provides the ultimate jumping-off point
to learn about the region’s wildlife and ecology, while
also helping the local indigenous community make a
sustainable living. By Roddy Scheer
Go to all articles - Go to this article
CURRENTS
Flower Power
With an Entrepreneur’s Jump Start, the
Organic Market Blossoms
n
Flowers are the most pesticide-intensive crop and that
flower workers pay a heavy price. In Ecuador, the
second-largest exporter of flowers to the United
States, 60 percent of workers suffer from headaches,
nausea. Doctors in Cayambe, the rose capital of
Ecuador, confirm these findings and add birth defects,
sterility and miscarriages to the list. Gerald ProIman's
vision began to take shape three years ago. He
launched Organic Bouquet in 2001 with the idea of
selling organic flowers over the Internet. By Ross
Wehner
Go to all articles - Go to this article
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT
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Page 3 of 3
if you ar* having difficulty unsubscribing. copy and paste the following Into the subject line of an
Environmental and Health Balance
Sheet of Sundsvall -
Important milestones in Sundsvallis efforts on the way
To create a good living environment
from a one-sided industrial society to a sustainable city
The third World Health Conference, arranged jointly by rhe
WHO and rhe UNEP, was held in Sundsvall in 1991. T he the
me was Supportive Environments for Health. Ac rhe conference
the Sundsvall Declaration on Supportive Environments for
Health was adopted. The Declaration has been a guiding docu
ment in Sundsvall’s work to create a sound living environment
for its residents.
In 1988 Sundsvall was given the opportunity to conduct a
dish project to find ways co create a healthy living environment.
The work resulted in a report, Clean by 2000 (Rent till 2000)
- how to create a sound living environment for residents by
the new millennium? The project allowed Sundsvall to obtain a
good understanding of the stare of rhe environment and resul
ted in rhe adoption of an action plan. In 1990 the City Council
adopted rhe following goal.
'‘Sundsvall should be a municipality with a good environment tn
ecological balance, where people can live in good health and enjoy
unspoilt natural surroundings. The image ofSundsvall as environ
mentally burdened industrial centre shall be changed, the city will
be weUknown for the results of its good environmental protection
efforts. ”
The work resulted in our local vision, the Sundsvall’s Agenda
21, that by year 2020 Sundsvall will be a sustainable society.
The most important goals arc:
Knowledge - Knowledge is a cornerstone for sustainable de
velopment. Schools, associations, employers anil organisations
must be involved.
Power - Participation in community development is an impor
tant basis for democracy Involvmcnt in making decisions make
it easier to suppot t those decisions.
Health - Good public health and high quality of life form rhe
foundation for Sundsvall’s development planning.
The Sundsvall’s Agenda 21 work is therefore called
- Environment for Life (Livsmiljd Sundsvall). Agenda work
requires an overall perspective, cooperation across boundaries
and an open, democratic spirit.
Sundsvall Agenda 21 work has had a good living environment
as a guiding light. In its local Agenda 21 work Sundsvall has
been concerned with rhe environment, social issues and finan
ces, and lias had a heavy focus on resident participation. The
basic approach is that if changes arc to be made they can only
be made if rhe residents themselves participate in rhe process of
change The role of rhe city is to encourage, support and create
rhe necessary conditions.
In Sundsvall participation and empowerment are central to ac
hieve a sustainable society. People, particularly young people,
must feel that they can influence developments. For this pur
pose all inhabitants have access to the same information as the
experts in an annually published environmental and health ba
lance sheer.
(Qe Environmental and Health
Balance Sheet (Livsmiljobokslut)
The first environmental sheet published by a Swedish city was
completed in Sundsvall in 1991. The balance sheer is an an
nually published document char includes statistical data and
an analysts of the present environmental situation. The balance
sheet is pare of the policy of open and transparent governance
Both positive and negative developments should be described.
For the same purpose, openness and transparency, Sundsvall
now also publishes a report that describes the scare of health of
its residents as well as an annual report on how the city’s work
according to the Sundsvall’s Agenda is progressing.
The environmental and health balance sheer has perhaps been
rhe mosr important component of rhe cco-auditing process in
Sundsvall It has so far been prepared for fourteen years run
ning. Each Environment and Hciilth Balance Sheer is a pu
blished document that concentrates on describing the environ
mental and public health situation of Sundsvall and the work
carried out to improve it by the municipalin' and others over
the preceding year. It covers a number of environmental and
health topics: citizen involvement in environmental initiatives,
local neighbourhood improvements, biological investigations,
n^nre reserves, old pollution problems, lakes, traffic and transy-B communications, air qualm’, environmental protection.
environmental impact assessment, major industrial firms in
Sundsvall. energy, waste (including hazardous waste), drinking
water, sewage treatment, environmental education, the every
day environment of the people, public health and international
environmental work
For each topic the emphasis is on identifying which environ
mental projects rh.tr have been carried our by rhe municipality
in the previous year and identifying recent trends in environ
mental quality and health status The material is mainly infor
mative ami educational, intended to raise awareness about local
(and global) environmental and public health concerns. The
Sundsvall Environmental and Health Balance Sheet is a central
feature of the city’s bottom-up auditing initiatives.
Please visit our website if you would like to read more about a number of our projects.
www.sundsvall.se
i Livsmiljo § Sundsvaii
AGENDA 21
City of Sundsvaii
SE-85I 85 SUNDSVALL
SWEDEN
Tel +46 60 I9I000
Fax+46 60 I28I91
Contact person:
Marie-Louise Hennksson.
e-mail: marie.louise.hcnriksson@sundsvall.se
Environment planning officer, the Executive Board Office
Sundsvaii is a medium-sized city with a population of 94,000, situated in the
centre of Sweden, some 400 kilometres north of Stockholm. The city is located
on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. For over one hundred years rhe Sunds
vaii region has been the industrial, commercial andfinancial heart of northern
Sweden. As a result of its industrial heritage and its particular topographv. the
Sundsvaii area has experienced a range of environmental problems.
ACT NOW
Are you doing your bit to help save the planet?
What can I do? I'm not a scientist
Who me? I’m only a kid.
I don't think I can do much. I have so much to do in the house,
you know.
. - '.
It's not my business. I don't work in the government.
No. I really don’t have the time.
ut you are doing lots of things to help save the •
B
You want to
what?
benvironment!
.
• * know
.
V
*, ’ •
Switching off fans and lights when you go out of the room.
Selling old newspapers.
Reusing plastic bags.
ACT NOW
ut what do these things have to do with saving the
B
environment? A lot! Each of these things we all do as
a matter of course helps to conserve the resources of
the earth and save the environment. And did you know that
these things that are so routine for us, are now being
re-discovered in many other countries! Books are being written
and seminars held to encourage people to recycle paper and I
glass; to take a cloth shopping bag along when they go
shopping; to use public transport whenever possible! Seems
strange, doesn't it? While many of our traditions are
environmentally sound, there is still need to re-examine our
practices and make changes in our life style. And don't
underestimate the difference you can make to the environment
through your actions.
, Here is a checklist of environmentally friendly actions. You’re
probably already doing many of them, but now, every time you
do these things, you'll also have the satisfaction that you're
being a conservationist!
ood for thought
Did you know that 50 per cent of all the energy used in India is for
cooking? So improving fuel efficiency in the kitchen will help save trees,
conserve fossil fuels and return more animal waste to the soil to improve it.
Here are some simple ways to make the most of your cooking fuel.
• Keep the vessel covered with a lid during cooking-it keeps the heat in
and helps cook faster.
• Don't cook continuously on a high flame. When the liquid in the food
starts boiling, the flame size can be reduced. This habit can save as
much as 40 per cent fuel!
• Use the smaller burner of the gas stove whenever possible.
2
t)
ACT NOW
A pressure cooker can save up to 75 per cent of the fuel and time spent
in cooking.
•
• Food cooks faster in aluminium vessels than in stainless steel ones.
• To achieve better fuel efficiency, ensure that the bottom of the cooking
vessel is large enough to entirely cover the burner.
• For faster cooking, use flat, wide-bottomed vessels which expose a
. x larger area to the flame.
> Turn off the stove a few minutes before the cooking is finished and keep
the vessel covered to save fuel.
•
Plan and keep things ready before the stove is turned on, to reduce fuel
wastage.
•
Get the family to eat together-it saves having to reheat food several
times.
•
Maintain the stove-ensure that the holes are not clogged, that the wicks
are trimmed, etc.-to increase fuel efficiency.
•
Smokeless chullahs (improved cookstoves) are more fuel efficient than
traditional ones.
Have you thought of using a solar cooker for some of your cooking needs?
The price is subsidized by the government and there is no worry about the
gas running out, availability of kerosene or rising prices of fuel.
India’s production of paper is estimated to be upwards of 14 lakh tonnes a
year. Feeding paper mills with raw materials -bamboo and trees-to
produce this paper is causing forests in many parts of the country to
disappear. So it's important to ensure that paper is not wasted. Selling old
newspapers helps to do this, because all that paper gets 'recycled', i.e.,
reprocessed and made into paper again.
• Ensure that every scrap of used paper in the house is sold. While
newspapers and magazines arc regularly sold, single sheets of paper
often end up in the dustbin. Ensure that all these-including bills, used
3
ACT NOW
brown paper covers, used envelopes, hand bills, old diaries and
calenders—find their way to the pile to be sold to the kabadiwala.
• Write on both sides of every sheet of paper.
• Keep your school textbooks in good condition. Then you can pass them
on to your juniors when you go to the next class.
•
Make rough pads with all the blank sheets from old notebooks.
• Use a slate for doing rough work, taking messages, keeping lists etc.
•
Store and reuse paper bags (and plastic bags too).
• Help cut down paper waste in your workplace-encourage photocopying
on both sides of the paper, use only half sheets of paper for short
memos, and if your office has personal computers, find a way of using
the back of the computer paper.
'treeling' experience
Given above are some ways to save trees and other vegetation from being
cut. But what about growing a tree yourself? Its not difficult, its fun and
satisfying too-to see your efforts take root and bear fruit.
•
Get in touch with the forest department or a voluntary organization
working in the field of afforestation. They will be able to give you
saplings and also advise you on how to plant and take care of them.
Spend some time choosing the type of tree you would like to plant.
Usually, local species arc better for the enviomment than an exotic, i.e.,
a species not native to the place.Thc choice of tree species would also
depend on what grows well in your area. For instance, the following
five trees grow well in many parts of India.
Comman Name
Scientific name
Names in some
regional
languages
Flame Of The Forest
Butea monospenna
Dhak (Hindi),
Khakharo (Guj.),
ACT NOW
Palas (Hindi,
Beng., Mar.,
Mai.), Parasa
(Tam.)
Indian Almond
Terminalia catappa
Adamarram
(Mai.),
Badamchettu
(Tel.), Bangla
badam (Beng.),
Dcshi badam
(Hindi),
Nalvodom
(Tam.)
Neem
Azadirachta indica
Limdo (Guj.),
Ncem (Hindi,
Beng.), Vepa
(Mai., Tam.,
Tel)
Peepal
Ficus religiosa
Arachu (Mai.),
Ashvatham
(Beng., Mai.,
Tam.),Pimpal
(Mar.), Pipal
(Hindi), Piplo
(Guj.)
Tamarind
Tamarindus indica
Analam (Mai.),
Amli, Ambli
(Hindi,
Guj.,Beng.)
Chincha (Mar.),
Chintacheitu
(Tel.), Puli
(Tam., Mai.)
Tcntul (Beng.).
(P.V. Bole and Yogini Vaghani. Field Guide to the Common Trees of India.
Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1986)
5
ACT NOW
• Think about where you want to plant the tree. The soil should be good
and it should be a place where you can water the sapling and watch over
it
• Start a small nursery. The forest department may be able to give you
seedlings and practical tips on doing it. Saplings raised in your nursery
would make good gifts.
M
U)
JL ▼ JRJracIe Grass
What on earth is miraculous about grass? It seems a simple unobtrusive
plant, not worth a second glance. But think about it and you'll realize that
the grass family...
u is the world's most important crop
o provides the bulk of fodder and forage
o covers a quarter of the land surface of earth, from the snow covered
Arctic regions, to the dry desert areas
o grows in saline soil, nutrient-poor soil, waterlogged soil
o can withstand trampling, grazing and fires
o provides raw materials for buildings and handicrafts
o feeds large industries-paper, alcohol and molasses, and home-based
industries-brooms, mats, baskets and toys
o plays a major role in soil and water conservation
o prepares the soil for other kinds of vegetation to grow
o comes in various sizes-from the familiar lawn grass to the towering
bamboos.
So green with grass. It spreads rapidly because it not only regenerates by
means of seeds, but also by putting out horizontal stems along and under
the surface of the ground, each joint of which is able to sprout roots and
leaves. But a word of caution: most grasses cannot grow in the shade.
• Choose a sturdy variety of grass. Most of us are used to thinking only in
terms of the lawn variety, but the grass family with about 10,000 species
ACT NOW
is the third largest family in the plant kingdom! The forest department
may be able to help you in finding out about other species.
9 It's easiest to begin close to home-green any bare patches of land,
however small, with grass.
If you can convince the people in the area, you could even grow grass
on bare patches in the neighbourhood. The grass could then be cut and
sold as fodder. Its not easy to do this on non-private land-people will
walk on it and cattle will graze it. But if you can find a way...
^^-^^arden wisdom
Winie you're outdoors, how about some environmentally sound practices
for the garden?
° Water the garden early in the morning or late in the evening. This
reduces water loss due to evaporation.
° There is always a temptation to overwater the garden. Water only till
the soil becomes moist, not soggy.
° Explore water efficient irrigation systems. Sprinkler irrigation and drip
irrigation can be adapted to garden situations.
° Make your garden lively-plant trees and shrubs which will attract birds.
You could also put up nest boxes and put out food. In the hot summer
months, a bird bath is something which will really please the birds.
°
°
Put waste to work in your garden—sweep the fallen leaves and flowers
into flower beds or under shrubs. This will increase soil fertility and also
reduce the need for frequent watering.
If you have a little space in your garden, you could make a compost pit
to turn organic waste from the kitchen and garden to soil enriching
manure. To make a compost pit:
Dig a pit about 1/2 metre wide, 1 metre deep and as long as you can make
it. Preferably make it al the far end of the garden.
Line it with straw or dried leaves and grass.
7
ACT NOW
Put in the waste material as and when generated and cover with a sprinkling
of dried leaves.
Water once a week to keep it moist.
Turn the contents of the pit every 15 days.
The compost will be ready in 3-4 months. Take it out and spread in your
garden.
Some things that can go into your compost pit:
Used tea leaves.
Vegetable and fruit peels and cores.
Overripe or spoilt vegetables and fruits.
Leftover or spoilt food.
Egg shells.
Cut grass and fallen leaves.
^j^^ransport troubles
Talking of economics, each one of us has felt the impact of spiralling petrol
prices. Measures you lake to keep your petrol bill down will save
irreplaceable fossil fuels and cut down on atmospheric pollution.
• Drive at a steady speed. Each vehicle has an optimum recommended
spced-you'll find that in the manual given to you when you buy the
vehicle.
• Depend on the accelerator rather than the brake to control the vehicle.
• Get the vehicle serviced regularly to keep it in good condition and to
keep the petrol consumption down.
• Use public transport whenever possible.
• Walk or cycle short distances-and the bonus of course is, you'll be in
better shape.
• Ensure that the air pressure in your tyres is as per the specifications.
This increases tyre life and vehicle mileage.
ACT NOW
In a hot country like ours, we spend a lot of energy just trying to keep cool.
It’s a challenge to keep cool without using too much electricity.or other
resources. Here are some ways to get started.
9 The roof is responsible for up to 50% of the heat entering the house.
Spread gunny sacks on the terrace and keep them wet by sprinkling with
water. This could be a good way of using some of the rinse water from
the kitchen. (See 'Elixir of life'.)
• Three coats of whitewash on the terrace floor will maximize the heat
being reflected. This can make the house cooler by up to 5 degrees!
• During summer, keep the lower level windows closed and the upper
level ventilators open. This lets out the hot air which is lighter.
• Night air is cool, so keep the windows open at night to let it in. First
thing in the morning, close the windows to keep in the cool air and keep
out the hot air.
• Use khus curtains in summer. Not only do they keep the house cool,
they also smell nice. But the challenge is to devise a system for keeping
the curtains wet, without wasting water !
• If there are windows on the sun-facing sides of the house, it would be
more effective to hang the curtains on the outside rather than on the
inside of the windows.
If you want a real cool bath in summer, don't open the lap and let the
water run till the flow is cold. Fill a bucket of water and and let it stand
for a few hours.
• Keep the matkalsurahi covered with a thin, wet cloth. This will help it
cool faster and better.
• Fill fridge bottles with water already cooled in the matka or surahi.
This way you'll spend less electricity to cool the water to the same
temperature.
Adapt these ideas to keep warm in winter. Maximize the use of sun's
energy.
9
ACT NOW
1
lectrifying information
Gadgets which were luxuries just ten years ago are becoming commonplace
in our homes today. Now that they're here to stay, it's important that we use
them properly, to cut down waste of electricity. Here are some simple ways.
• Maximize the use of natural light-early to bed and early to rise can
really cut down on your electricity bills. Position reading tables near
windows.
*80
• Switch off fans and lights as you leave the room. If its a tubelight,
switch it off if you're going to be out of the room for more than fifteen
minutes. This seems a very obvious thing but just monitor yourself for
the next few days and see if you do it everytime. It's especially
important in offices, schools and public places, because in such places
nobody feels really responsible for such things and so they never get
done.
• Use tube lights rather than bulbs wherever possible—a 40 watt tubclight
is equivalent to a 100 watt bulb.
• Keep bulbs, tubes etc. clean-dust can decrease lighting levels by 20 to
30 per cent, and may also shorten the life of the fixtures.
• Don't open the fridge too often and don't keep it open too long when you
open it.
• Wait till milk or food cools before putting it into the fridge.
© Defrost the fridge regularly.
• Keep the coils at the back of the fridge dust free-this will help it cool
more efficiently.
• Position the fridge so that the coils arc ventilated sufficicntly-this will
help it cool better.
• Use the mains rather than batteries whenever possible.
• Switch off the television or radio as soon as the programme of interest is
over.
o Install a solar water heater. In most parts of the country, it can be used
for at least eight months out of twelve, and you could save up to
Rs. 1000 per year in electricity bills.
10
ACT NOW
It would be a good idea to compare your Wore conservation' and ’after
conservation' electricity bills. You'll find that these measures in addition to
being environmentally sensible, make sound economic sense too.
I
lixir of life
Ready availability of clean water contributes greatly to the quality of life.
But when it is available, we tend to use it wastefully without even being
aware of it. We need to be more aware of how we use water and of simple
things we can do to collect and conserve it.
• When you turn on the tap, don’t turn it the whole way-have a slow
flow.
• Make sure the tap is turned off while you brush your teeth or wash your
face.
• Ensure that the tap is closed when clothes are being washed or vessels
cleaned.
• Get leaking laps fixed as a priority.
• When you need to fill a glass of drinking waler, take only as much as
you need.
• In case you store water in the house, utilize the unused stored water for
soaking clothes, watering the garden, mopping the floors etc.
Wash vegetables, fruits etc. in a pan of waler rather than under running
water.
• Keep a large bucket in the kitchen and pour water used for washing food
items or rinsing vessels into this. This waler can be used for watering
plants.
• Collect rain-water during the rainy season. Rain-water is pure and apart
from uses like washing and bathing, you can use it for watering delicate
plants. Brass vessels washed with rain-water stay sparkling for a long
time.
• Store as much rain-water as you can. You could use a channel from the
terrace to feed a tank. To give an idea of how much water is involved: If
11
ACT NOW
your house has a roof of 25 sq meters and you live in a place with 50 cm
annual rainfall, the rain-water runoff from your roof is close to 12,500
litres per year. This is the amount of water needed by a household of
four people for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing for a period of
two months!
© Use defrost water from the refrigerator for watering delicate plants, after
it has warmed to room temperature.
Vj
lose to home
To live in a nice, clean neighbourhood is everyone's dream. The primary
responsibility of ensuring that our neighbourhood is beautiful is ours, both
by taking action-individual and collcctive-and by seeing to it that the civic
authorities act as and when necessary. Here are some ways to get started.
9 Find out whom to complain to if taps on the roadside are leaking, if
there are unfilled pot-holes on the roads or the garbage does not get
cleared. Share this information with your neigbours. This way, when
something goes wrong, someone or the other will complain.
0 Plant trees or grass wherever possible.
• Don’t let people spoil your neighbourhood by putting up posters and
handbills. If you can get all the residents together, it is possible to stop
this.
• If there is a monument in the locality, work out ways it can be kept
clean and looked after, so that it docs not fall into disrepair.
• During the rains ensure that there are no pools of slagant water which
breed mosquitoes and become a public health hazard. If it is a small
pool, you can fill it with mud or sand. Spray kerosene along the edges of
larger pools.
• Start a drive to keep your neighbourhood free of noise pollution. This
would include creating awareness about the use of vehicle horns,
volume at which radios or televisions are played, and the use of public
address systems during weddings, festivals etc.
12
ACT NOW
w
V
V isdom of the ages
f
Many of our traditional practices are environmentally sound, but we're
either forgetting the practices, or practising them as rituals without
analyzing them from a scientific point of view. Talk to people of the older
generation to find out more about such practices so that they can be
adapted to our needs today. You can begin with practices like:
• Water harvesting-several old houses have efficient ways of collecting
and storing rain-water.
• Pest control-most mothers and grandmothers have effective recipes to
keep away cockroaches, silver-fish and other household pests. Ncem
leaves among the woollens, dried lemon peels in book shelves, turmeric
powder to keep away ants and dhoop to deter mosquitoes arc a few of
these. These cost little and don’t cause pollution in their manufacture or
use.
• Biodegradable containcrs-sounds high-tech, but thats what leaf plates
and kuluds are! What about using them for joumeys/picnics/parties,
rather than plastic plates and cups?
• Traditional cleaners-ash or mud to clean utensils arc as effective as
factory-made powders.
peak out for the planet
And most important, share your concern for saving the environment
with your family and friends—your ideas could help us all to become
enviommcntal activitists.
Share with family and friends your ideas about how to save the
environment.
• Write letters to editors of newspapers on environmental issues of
concern in your area.
•
13
ACT NOW
•
And write in your suggestions to us at:
Centre for Environment Education
Nehru Foundation for Development
Thaltej Tckra
Ahmedabad 380054.
Acknowledgements: Urjapatra, GEDA File, Gujarat Energy Development
Agency, Vol 2 No 4, December 1989.
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Designed & Produced by CEE, Ahmedabad.
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