Oct.18: ENVIRONMENT SNIPPETS
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in October-2018
Dry-cleaned laundry may release carcinogen Â
Toxic chemical  Â
PERC(perchloroethylene), a chemical used for dry-cleaning, has been found to be toxic to humans and the environment. PERC is retained in dry-cleaned clothes and customers, including children and the elderly, could be exposed to it. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has said it is highly probable that it is a carcinogen.
The permissible concentration for PERC should not exceed 0.7 mg per litre in waste water. As per a study conducted in Delhi and Kolkata by Toxics Link, an Indian environmental research and advocacy organization, dry-cleaned clothes were found to have PERC ranging from 1.3 mg/kg to 101 mg/kg.
Health hazard
Your food might be growing in contaminated soil
Organ damage
Food safety is threatened by soil pollution, which can not only affect the nervous system but also induce kidney, liver and bone damage, says a report ‘Soil Pollution: A Hidden Reality’published by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
Toxic heavy metals mostly enter the food chain through absorption by plant roots. The report identifies three human health risks linked to soil pollution. They are soil contaminated with (i) dangerous elements (for example, arsenic, lead and cadmium); (ii) organic chemicals like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and (iii) pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics or endocrine disruptors.
Unsafe foodÂ
India has warmed rapidly in last 70 years
Global trend
A new study on climate change in India has confirmed a rapid rise in surface temperatures in the past 70 years. The study was conducted by researchers of Florida State University, IIT Bhubaneswar and the India Meteorological Department (IMD). According to the study, India is experiencing warming as an integral part of the warming that is happening globally.
Global warming is manifesting itself over parts of India in the maximum temperatures observed during the warm pre-monsoon period. There is a notable warming trend in northwestern India beginning in the 1970s and accelerating in the 2000s and 2010s, the study has found.
Higher temperatures
