Why Should we use Biodiesel The Advantages
These days, there are a lot of problems that the humans are facing with regards to air pollution. The more the vehicles are used everyday all around the world, the bigger the problem gets. And the number one blame goes to the emission of diesel engines from automobiles and industrial equipments that use fuel.
Aside from performing well just as ordinary diesel fuels do, biodiesel is more economic to use and has been proven to have same performance as regular fuel engines. It also does not only last longer but also have higher rate of lubrication with lover concentration levels, which makes it blend better and emitting less pollution than other fuel engines, especially diesel. Continue reading »
Filed under Biodiesel, Environment, Pollution | Tags: Biodiesel, Biodiesel Fuel | Comment (0)[Research] Arsenic linked to diabetes
Even in low and moderate levels, the element is harmful
High inorganic arsenic exposure to diabetes has been established earlier by studies in Bangladesh, Taiwan and Mexico. But the effect of low and moderate levels of arsenic was unknown. A study in the US has found that inorganic arsenic, even at low levels, may cause diabetes. Found in mineral deposits in rocks and soil, arsenic leaches into groundwater, which when supplied for drinking, can be harmful, say researchers of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.
The researchers studied data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2003-04 for 788 adults. They found that individuals with diabetes had higher levels of inorganic arsenic compared to those without diabetes. Apart from contaminated drinking water, flour and rice can also contain small quantities of inorganic arsenic, if grown or cooked in areas with arsenic contaminated soil or water.
The study says that 8 per cent of the public water supply system in the US may exceed arsenic levels of 10 micrograms per litre, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for arsenic concentration in drinking water.
“Estimated daily dietary intake of inorganic arsenic in the US ranges from 8.4-14 micrograms per day for various age groups,”
said the study published in the August 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
This study predicts a grim future for India where arsenic poisoning is spreading to new areas. India is also called the diabetes capital of the world. However, one problem with the study is that the direct linkage between arsenic exposure and diabetes has not been explored.
“This is a cross-sectional study. Two observations have been made on the basis of data available. Only the association can be claimed, not the causality. The two things may happen together, but it’s not necessary that one causes the other. Further studies need to be carried out,”
said Nikhil Tandon, professor in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, AIIMS, Delhi.
Shashank R Joshi, endocrinologist at Lilawati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, says,
Filed under Livelihood, Pollution | Tags: Arsenic, Arsenic Poisoning, Drinking Water, Food Contamination, Health, Health Effects, United States Of America (US) | Comment (0)“Arsenic related diabetes would form a very small percentage of the total diabetes in the country which is high, due to susceptible genes, bad diet and lack of exercise.”
Just a Lament – Pollution in Yamuna
Biking along the Yamuna from Delhi to Agra, Ravleen Kaur hears constant calls for saving the river, but witnesses little action. Photographs by Vaibhav Raghunandan.
The roaring of motorcycles shattered the early morning calm on the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi. On World Environment Day on June 5, a group of professionals, farmers, activists and journalists gathered for a bike rally along the river at the Yamuna Satyagraha site, where a bunch of farmers and activists have been campaigning against the construction of the Commonwealth Games Village on the riverbed for over 300 days.
As the river drifted into Faridabad its burden of sewage and industrial waste kept on increasing and the spectacular failure of the Yamuna Action Plan began to unfold.
In Dhadhasiya, 40 km from Delhi, a sewage treatment plant (stp) of 20 million litre per day capacity sprawled over 7 hectares made a great showpiece of the plan, but it was shut down for upgradation. Untreated sewage was being discharged into the river. “Who is interested in knowing where their daily muck is going?” said the stp contractor with a shrug. Even when the plant functions, it treats the sewage only partially. In not even one place we visited, stps were functional. Continue reading »
Double Standards
While the Agarias wage a constant struggle with the forest department, the government has allegedly turned a blind eye to pollution by two soda ash-making units run by major industrial groups. At Mithapur in Jamnagar district’s Okha taluka there are charges of pollution against a salt-and-soda ash unit run by Tata Chemicals Limited (tcl).
The Dalmiya group-operated Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (ghcl) unit in Junagadh district’s Sutrapada taluka faces more serious allegations: it has refused to comply with a high court order for more than a year, after violating salt lease conditions for about 20 years.
This is the cover story on salt in Down to Earth magazine that I talked about.
Here is the link to it.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/
Its about how Conservation has become a ruse to evict Agarias, but so far as allegations of widespread pollution and environment destruction against big companies is concerned, authorities have chosen not to be strict. Local communities face a dual threat: they are dispossessed in the name of conservation and then large companies destroy farms forcing them to migrate.
Filed under Environment, Livelihood, Pollution | Tags: Down to Earth, GHCL, TCL | Comment (0)Toxic Waste kept for Safe Disposal in Bharuch Catches Fire
A Fire at a facility especially set up to safely store and dispose of hazardous waste at Ankleshwar in Bharuch district of Gujarat has revealed how callously dangerous waste is managed in the country. In what could have been an industrial disaster worse than the Bhopal gas tragedy, 250 tonnes of hazardous chemicals and oil kept in barrels at Bharuch Enviro Infrastructure Limited (beil)—of which pesticide giant United Phosphorus is a major equity shareholder—went up in smoke on the evening of April 3. The godown had stored over 12,800 tonnes of hazardous chemical solvents and waste oil, which far exceed the capacity of its incinerator.
“Had it not been for the change in wind direction within 10 minutes of the fire, it could have spread to and destroyed all the nearby factories in the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (gidc) and villages”
says Manoj Kotadia, manager, fire and safety, Disaster Prevention and Management Centre, Ankleshwar. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, India, Pollution, Travel | Tags: Bharuch, Chemical Industry, Chemical Leakages, Gujarat, Hazardous Industry, Hazardous Waste, Health Effects, India, Legislation, Pesticide Industry, Waste Disposal, Waste Incineration | Comment (0)MOEF Defination of Waste, Material etc. Skewed
The terms ‘waste‘ and ‘material‘ are synonymous in the draft hazardous material rules of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (moef). The rules have been criticized for violating norms of the Basel Convention – an international treaty on cleaner production, minimization of hazardous waste and control on its movement—to which India is a signatory.
“The rather unusual use of two similar meaning yet different terms—waste and material—is bound to lead to enormous confusion,’ note D B Boralkar and Claude Alvares, members of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes and say that the state pollution control boards won’t be able to deal with the confusion. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, Pollution, Save environment | Tags: * Government Of India (GOI), Hazardous Industry, Hazardous Products, India, Legislation, Ministry Of Environment And Forests (MOEF), Supreme Court, Toxic Wastes, Waste Disposal | Comment (0)Laissez Faire – Government Sits Back, Carmakers Make Hay
Government sits back, carmakers make hay
No one knows where to place the ultra-low-cost cars in the overall paradigm shift in technology in India. Small cars and downsizing have begun to find favour to achieve greater fuel efficiency in a world increasingly threatened by energy insecurity and global warming, because they are more energy-efficient than oil-guzzling SUVs. The main concern about the new small car is abnormally low prices linked to what is on offer in terms of emissions performance, durability and safety.
The Tata car will jam cities before Euro IV standards are enforced in 2010. It will thus meet abysmally backward Euro II standards in smaller cities that are 10 years behind Europe and Euro III norms in 11 major cities that lag by five years. Should Tata Motors have waited for Euro iv to kick in? “Why Euro iv, someone may even ask for Euro V. We will meet the standards we have to meet,’ was MD Ravi Kant’s reaction, knowing the government is sitting on more stringent standards. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, News, Pollution | Comment (0)