Industrial Pollution and Waste Management: Contaminated Sites
The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) is carrying out mapping of chemical contaminated sites in Pakistan, to safeguard public health and the environment in and around the polluted site area. Partners in this joint project are Blacksmith Institute, USA, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Green Cross Switzerland and European Commission.
SDPI is the focal point for the Global Inventory Project (GIP) in Pakistan. The main aim of GIP is to identify and assess the contaminated sites and to provide data to governments and other stakeholders which will enable them to prioritize activities and programs that will mitigate risks to the environment & health and save lives. The criteria for a site selection is the magnitude of health impacts on humans especially on children.
SDPI research team visited 39 contaminated sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (5 in/around 3 cities), Punjab (25 in/around 8 cities), Sindh (7 in/around 2 cities) and two in the outskirts of Islamabad. Most of the sites are contaminated due to industrial releases, medical wastes and the open burning of residues/wastes, on times 24 hours for days on. Among site assessment activities, the relevant stakeholders, including, medical personnel, industry representatives, officials of Ministry of Environment (MoE) & Federal and Provincial Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) were interviewed, besides the direct victims - the local residents. The sampling of different segments of environment including drinking water, wastewater and soil have also been carried out and an assessment report for each visited site has been prepared in light of the interviews with stakeholders and the levels of toxic pollutants in the collected samples as examined by the research laboratories.
Studies on remediation of DDT contaminated site at Ammangargh, Nowshera, Khyber Pukhtunkhawa are near completion. Laboratory scale experiments have shown a considerable reduction of DDT of the desorbable fraction in the amended soil compared to the control soil. The reduction also shows that this remediation technique should work in principle. In the 2nd phase of the project,
pilot field studies will be performed after the activated charcoal (AC) is added to the soil according to the bench-scale laboratory results. Overall, this technique presents, if successful, an economically sound, effective and feasible way to remediate organically contaminated hotspots in Pakistan and elsewhere.
The above study is a joint research work carried out in collaboration with Agroscope Reckenholz Tänikon Research Station ART, Zurich, Switzerland and Environmental Science Department, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, with financial support from Switzerland National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Keeping in view, the scale of the polluted sites (39) identified and assessed so far in the country, government attention is needed for the remediation of these sites. Furthermore, there is a need to create awareness among the relevant stakeholders about the potential risks of the polluted sites on public health and environment.
Further details about this study can be obtained from Dr. Mahmood Khwaja. khwaja@sdpi.org
Research Symposium Bushfire Smoke Issues 28th – 29th April, 2011
Perth, Western Australia
In April this year, a Research Symposium on Bushfire Smoke Issues was held at Edith Cowan University (ECU). The symposium was hosted by PBC member A/Prof Andrea Hinwood of ECU and sponsored by the Fire and Emergency Services of Western Australia, the Centre for Ecosystem Management, EcoTech and ECU’s Office of Research and Innovation and Faculty of Computing Health and Science.
The symposium was attended by participants from a wide variety of organisations including researchers, fire and air quality managers, industry and non government organisations. PBC member Dr Budi Haryanto gave the opening address of the symposium on the global health effects of bushfire smoke. He outlined the scale of the issue globally and the significance of smoke from a public health perspective. Dr Haryanto’s presentation was followed by a range of presentations on smoke composition, health effects, personal exposures, techniques for modelling and monitoring smoke and management activities. The symposium had a number of workshops on key topics which are currently being summarised for distribution to interested groups. Information on the symposium including presentations and a summary of the workshops can be obtained from Anthea Ward: anthea.ward@ecu.edu.au
Program information
The University of Queensland - Rodney Wylie Eminent Visiting Fellowship 2011
Dr David Carpenter, PBC Treasurer and Board of Directors member is the 2011 recipient of the Rodney Wylie Eminent Visiting Fellowship. The Fellowship program, which commenced in 2010, brings to the University a globally respected visitor to provide intellectual leadership and engage with the University and the community more broadly.
The 2010 founding year, Rodney Wylie Eminent Visiting Fellow was Joseph Stiglitz Nobel Laureate in Economics.
Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute (QCMRI), Brisbane, Australia
Professor Keith Grimwood, QCMRI Director and PBC organisational member has said that all staff in Brisbane are safe. They have all faced diffficulties during the devastating floods but they are safe and returning to work.
Dr Jenny Pronzcuk de Garbino (Jenny)
The children of the world lost a champion with the untimely death of Dr. Jenny Pronzcuk de Garbino (Jenny) on September 20th in Geneva. Jenny worked tirelessly to improve the health of children, especially those most vulnerable living in developing and low-income countries. Jenny was also personally responsible for encouraging and guiding the initial WHO Collaborating Centres in Children’s Environmental Health through the designation process. Together with the late Terri Damstra, Jenny led the long-standing WHO-NIEHS collaborative agreement though its most productive phase, expanding into Children’s Environmental Health with an emphasis on education and training and fostering collaborative research. Those of us, who were privileged to know Jenny, will miss her infectious smile and good nature. Jenny Pronczuk de Garbino, gone but not forgotten.
Reviews on Environmental Health
Issue 1, 2011
The Journal "Reviews on Environmental Health" have published the Special Issue on the 13th International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health: Environment Exposures in the Era of Climate Change. Edited by Peter D. Sly, David O. Carpenter and Robert G. Arnold
http://www.degruyter.de/journals/reveh/detailEn.cfm
Children’s environmental health-from knowledge to action
The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 26 July 2010 by PBC members Tania Gavidia, Marie-Noel Brune, Kathleen McCarty, Jenny Pronczuk, Ruth Etzel, Maria Neira, David carpenter, William Suk, Robert Arnold, Eun Hee Ha and Peter Sly. The commentary points out that the environmental threats to the health of children are likely to be compounded by the effects of climate change as discussed at the 13th International Conference of the Pacific Basin Consortium. The conference highlighted environmental threats in the Pacific basin, including emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, environmental exposures in indigenous communities, and exposures related to e-waste recycling and cottage industries. The conference coincided with the centenary of Alfred Jeffries Turner’s call for legislative action to prevent lead poisoning in children.
Childhood pneumonia: a neglected, climate-sensitive disease?
Recent commentary published in The Lancet November 27, 2010: 376 p1804 by Stuart Paynter, Robert Ware, Philip Weinstein, Gail Williams and Peter Sly discuss the need for policy makers advocating health concerns to take into account the relationship between seasonal rainfall and childhood pneumonia in the tropics which needs to be included in policy initiatives. The authors point out that childhood pneumonia is climate sensitive and too important to ignore.
Asbestos - Australian authors call for eradication of asbestos
Collegium Ramazzini Fellow Dr. Peter Sly recently published an editorial in the Medical Journal of Austrialia entitled "Asbestos still poses a threat for global health: now is the time for action" [MJA 2010; 193 (4): 198-199]. The article, stating Australia should support international bans on asbestos trade.
IT WIRE, Monday 16 August 2010
MED INDIA, Monday 16 August 2010
TOP NEWS UK, Sunday 15 August 2010
Please email recent news items via my email r.jemison@uq.edu.au or info@pacificbasin.org if you have news that you wish to have considered for inclusion on the News page.
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