Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PROPOSALS to simplify the payment of European Union (EU) subsidies to wine growers were released today by the European Commission, as part of a major tabling of reforms to the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

A Brussels spokesman said assuming the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers agree, from 2013 "payments are covered within the ‘single farm payment’", which means no special subsidy rules for vineyards will apply.…

BY ALEX PESHKOV

A SPECIAL tanker built to haul radioactive waste from Andreyeva Bay, Russia’s Northern Fleet largest storage facility, will be launched at an Italian shipyard this month (November), Russian officials have told World Nuclear News. Russia hopes to completely clean up Andreyeva Bay, on the Kola Peninsular, near the Norwegian border, Europe’s largest radioactive waste burial ground, by 2020.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

CASHMERE experts have attacked claims that their industry is unsustainable and responsible for desertification in Inner Mongolia and independent Mongolia. Speaking at the fourth annual Cashmere World trade show in Beijing, Dr Carol Kerven, director of the UK-based Odessa Centre, and a Central Asia cashmere researcher said desertification is almost certainly not driven by cashmere goats, but more likely by a combination of factors, most notably annual changes in rainfall and – if overgrazing must be blamed – then cattle would make better scapegoats.…

BY MARK GODFREY

CHINA’S US dollar USD25 billion paint and coatings industry remains in sound health, buoyed by auto and home sales plus infrastructure programmes, all fuelled by a government-orchestrated lending spree. Data published by the Chinese Chemical Society shows China paints and coatings growing an average 10% a year since 2000.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

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THE BANGLADESH textile industry and its chemical suppliers will improve its environmental standards helped by a wing of the World Bank and five major clothing brands. The bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), working with H&M, Kappahl, Lindex, Levis and Mothercare, will use regional and international consultants to transfer knowledge to Bangladeshi consulting firms and auditors to work with textile companies to assess existing environmental practices, then improve waste-management and energy efficiency.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is undertaking a major study on the environmental health dangers posed by endocrine disrupter chemicals – often used in textiles – promising to report back to the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers by December 31.…

BY MARK ROWE

WHEN it comes to palm oil production, there are – despite growing production in South America and west Africa – only two major players on the global stage – Malaysia and Indonesia. Cultivation in south-east Asia accounts for around 80% of the world’s global supply – which in turn reached a record high of 45.9 million tonnes in 2009-2010.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

ALTHOUGH the regulatory push towards the use of biofuels has largely been inspired by environmental motives – primarily aimed towards delivering carbon savings – many concerns have been raised around the idea that these eco-friendly fuels might be damaging engines and vehicle performance.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

THE CANADIAN government has added plastics drinks packaging additive Bisphenol A (BPA) to its national list of toxic substances, claiming this is the toughest action taken against the chemical internationally.

Despite protests from China and a positive recent health assessment from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Canada’s health and environment ministers have added BPA to its list of toxic substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).…

BY JOHN PAGNI

THE NORD Stream natural gas pipeline, linking Russia with Germany, is not just making political waves, but inspiring technological innovations. Its developers appear to be taking environmental issues seriously. This could appease the project’s doubters.

When completed by the end of 2012, two parallel pipelines will stretch 1,224 kilometres from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald on Germany’s Baltic coast, linking with EU networks, notably those run by DONG Energy (Denmark), Germany’s E.ON…