Full Coverage: Pollution

30.07.2004 The Mayors of twelve municipalities in the Herzegovina-Neretva and Western Herzegovina Cantons participated in the presentations of the pilot-project of Waste Incinerator facility for the Herzegovina Region worth 40 million Euro, which should be co-financed by the European Union. This is an investment that, on the basis of it effectiveness, would be second only to the restarting of the Mostar Aluminium Corporation in terms of importance for Herzegovina.

30.07.2004 New research shows that up to 220 young children a day could have been exposed to potentially dangerous pesticide levels from eating just one apple or pear and that internationally agreed safety levels on pesticides can be breached even when the legal limits were met. Imported produce was more likely to contain high pesticide levels than homegrown fruit.

29.07.2004 The Scottish Executive "must avoid a repeat of the fridge mountain fiasco" when it comes to electrical waste, environmentalists urged this week. The warning follows the launch of a consultation into how electronic waste such as TVs and computers should be dealt with. Scotland produces over 42,000 tonnes per year - most of which ends up dumped.

27.07.2004 Rubbish, dumped in gutters, is choking up the crumbling sanitation works that poorly service the capital Lome, worsening flooding in the rainy season and encouraging the spread of disease, to the concern of residents and health workers.

21.07.2004 Indian activists have renewed their call for action against the former head of a US multinational firm, Warren Anderson, two days after a court ordered the Indian government to release millions of dollars for victims of the world's worst chemical disaster.

20.07.2004 Join Spiked's online debate on air pollution and human health, sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council and
the Medical Research Council. Nine lead pieces have been published to start the debate, plus a number of reader responses. The debate, while moderated, is open to contributions from anybody.

19.07.2004 The judge in a landmark case against Texaco is physically inspecting some of the oil pits abandoned by the company after it ceased drilling operations in northeastern Ecuador ten years ago. The Ecuadorean case alleging pollution of rivers and streams in rural communities began in October 2003 in the town of Lago Agrio after a U.S. decided that it should be heard in Ecuador.

16.07.2004 Chemical pollutants present an increasing threat to whales, dolphins and porpoises, and should be prioritised for action at next week’s meeting of the International Whaling Commission, the Environmental Investigation Agency has stated.

16.07.2004

© WWF

A new study using laboratory analysis of 40 household products confirmed that they contain many toxic chemicals, some of which are not listed on the product’s labels. The federal government associates many of the chemicals, such as phthalates and glycol ethers, with reproductive harm and neurotoxicity.

15.07.2004

Sea-borne toxic waste washes ashore © World Wide Fund for Nature http://www.panda.org

The result of a study funded by the NATO Science Program links alarming rates of cancer in the Central Asian region to toxic residue from the shrinking Aral Sea and chemicals used in the region's cotton farms.

14.07.2004 La société minière qui remportera les enchères lui permettant d’exploiter le gisement de cuivre de Las Bambas, au Pérou (qui devrait être choisie le 23 juillet) ferait « mieux d’être prête à montrer aux familles [qui vivent là], à la communauté, aux communautés environnantes et au pays que la vie de la mine, de la prospection à l’après-fermeture, sera positive pour eux, leur environnement et leur économie », a prévenu Paul A. Warner, directeur chargé des relations avec la collectivité et des affaires institutionnelles du géant australien de la mine, BHP Billiton.

14.07.2004 At the July 1 meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade Committee, the U.S. delegation raised unsubstantiated concerns that the proposed chemical regulations in Europe will breach current WTO agreements. The new regulations, known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals), provide for stricter regulations for thousands of chemicals already in the market.

09.07.2004 From pesticides to deforestation, toxic waste to oil drilling, urban and rural communities will soon have a new book to aid them in finding with short- and long-term solutions to environmental health problems.

07.07.2004 79 per cent of people in Great Britain, and 83 per cent of Europeans, are concerned about the build-up of chemicals in the bodies of people and wildlife, according to an opinion poll conducted on behalf of WWF. The poll was taken to inform the UK government's consultation on the proposed new European Union chemicals law.

07.07.2004 For people who take advantage of America’s lakes and rivers to fish for fun or subsistence, the fear of mercury contamination should not put an end to that. But before you eat the catch of the day, consult advisories from the health department of the state with jurisdiction over the body of water the fish came from. Almost all state have issued warnings about eating fish caught in certain lakes, rivers and coastal areas. Forty-five states have issued at least one fish consumption advisory and 19 states have issued statewide fish consumption advisories.

06.07.2004 Osijek Greens association estimates that the summer campaign for demolition of illegally constructed building, conducted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning, has to spread to continental Croatia, too, especially in the protected areas in Slavonija and on the banks of Drava and Danube rivers.

06.07.2004 The Sierra Club’s 2004 Latino Communities at Risk Report shows that the cumulative impact of the Bush Administration’s environmental policies disproportionately affect the Latino community because three out of every five Latinos live in communities near uncontrolled toxic waste sites, 80 percent live in the 437 counties with the country's worst air and "90 percent of farm workers are Hispanic and are still exposed to extremely dangerous pesticides.”

05.07.2004 Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that commercial marine vessels emit about one million tons of smog forming nitrogen oxide each year, - - that is, as much as emission from one million cars combined - - ships have escaped the rigorous have escaped the rigorous controls adopted for land-based engines. Smog Alert, a new report from Environmental Defense, documents the extent of the problem and why it is important that the EPA brings “ships and their fuel in line with the same rigorous pollution control standards that apply to other parts of the transportation sector.”

02.07.2004 The water distributed by Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) to areas in the capital city of Kathmandu has tested positive for arsenic and alarming quantities of ammonia.