Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FEEDING of rare and exotic marine species off deep ocean mineral deposits that may become a target for metal mining companies could create a conflict between international mineral extraction and environmental conventions, a United Nations report has warned.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A report by the World Wide Fund says that some chemical substances found in consumer goods like television sets, furniture, fish and meat prevent children’s brains from developing properly. The WWF report ‘Compromising our Children’, also claims that laws required to phase out the potentially most dangerous substances are still not in place.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN scientists believe that a fungus is to blame for the accelerated decline and, in some cases, extinction of frogs and toads in north and central America and Australia James P. Collins, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at Arizona State University told the Los Angeles Times that 32 strains of the emerging pathogen called batrachochytrium dendrobatidis have been linked to three-fourths of frogs species in decline in Costa Rica and Panama.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THERE may be lies, damned lies and statistics, but no spin can conceal that a large proportion of international shipping and ports will not have complied with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) security code by July 1, its implementation deadline.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
The European Commission has launched a 6-year action plan to reduce diseases caused by pollution. Plan calls for initiatives “to better understand the environment-health link and establish how environmental exposure leads to epidemiological effects.” Focus of policy will be on research activities like asthma/allergy, neuro-developmental disorders, cancers and endocrine disrupting effects.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FRENCH Agency for Health and Environmental Safety (AFSSE) has blamed fossil fuel consumption in road transport for killing up to 10,000 people per year in France. Its critical report says that between six and 11 per cent of all lung cancer cases in the country are caused by such emissions, (up to 1,713 deaths annually).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE URGENCY of the need to create a hazardous waste disposal facility in Serbia – able to deal with the most toxic substances – has been underlined by the dumping of 24 barrels of carcinogenic liquid near Belgrade.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MOROCCO has approved new labour regulations, and the United States is claiming its recent trade agreement with the north African country encouraged its government to pass the reforms. They raise the minimum employment age from 12 to 15, reduced the standard work week from 48 to 44 hours, (with overtime rates payable for additional hours), and insist upon regular reviews of the Morocco minimum wage, which rose by 10% on July 1.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) scientific committee on toxicity, ecotoxicity and the environment has called for improvements in assessments of whether organic chemicals used in toys present a risk to children. Looking at EU studies, the committee says that studies should better ensure sampling is representative, if toys are made from more than one factory and – maybe – country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORLD food standards body Codex Alimentarius has approved an international code of practice on animal feeding, aimed at preventing environmental health problems caused by additive use (especially anti-biotics). The Codex’s Commission also expanded its food health and hygiene regulations, which will tighten rules on production and distribution when implemented in member countries, which include Britain.…