tailieunhanh - Living in a Chemical Environment – Persistent Organic Pollutants

Organic food can solve a number of imaginary health problems, but can it solve any of the real health problems that affect us? In the “World Health Report 2002”, the World Health Organization listed the main preventable health risks globally as: Childhood and maternal underweight; unsafe sex; high blood pressure; tobacco; alcohol; unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene; high cholesterol; indoor smoke from solid fuels; iron deficiency and overweight/obesity. Which of these can be solved by organic agriculture? Definitely not the malnutrition problem which occurs primarily in countries that do not widely use agrochemicals. What about the problems related to obesity? Is food high in organic fat healthier. | GENERAL I ARTICLE Living in a Chemical Environment - Persistent Organic Pollutants Rashmi Sanghi Rashmi Sanghi is currently working as a scientist at the Facility for Ecological and Analytical Testing IIT Kanpur. She got her PhD degree in natural products from Allahabad University in 1994 and then carried out postdoctoral work both at IIT Kanpur and at Rutgers University. The combination of industrial development the exponential growth of human settlements and the ever-increasing use of synthetic substances is having an adverse impact on the ecosystem and thus on human health. These chemicals find their way into soil air water and food. They are in the tissues of plants animals and humans. There is very little effective national or international control of the manmade chemicals in current use. Every person today carries approximately 250 chemicals within his her body chemicals that did not exist prior to 1945. World War II was a catalyst for the transformation from a carbohydrate based economy to a petrochemical based economy as chemical substitutes began to be invented for goods restricted or made unavailable during the war. The economic boom that followed World War II supported the parallel boom in the invention and use of chemicals which are associated with the convenience and flexibility of modern living. About 100 000 chemicals have entered into the market since 1945 and it is estimated that 75 000 of them are in commercial use. Today only about 3 about 1200 of these chemicals have been tested for carcinogenicity. Nobody knows about the risks of cancer carried by the rest. Persistent Organic Pollutants POPs are toxic substances released into the environment through a variety of human activities. Persistent Organic Pollutants POPs are toxic substances released into the environment through a variety of human activities. They are very stable and long-lived chemicals that build up in the food chain and slowly poison animals and humans. POPs are lipophilic and tend