The Hindu Business Line : Greenpeace pulls up Hindustan Insecticides for DDT pollution

GREENPEACE, the international non-governmental organisation, has come out with a report which indicates that the continuing production of DDT at the Hindustan Insecticides Ltd Factory in Eloor here is resulting in severe pollution of the already endangered Periyar waterways, due to the unabated release of toxic and persistent organic pollutants from an obsolete facility.

The study was a follow up to a project titled `Toxic Hotspots: Greenpeace Investigation of HIL and other factories in Kerala' conducted in 1999.

The study conducted by Greenpeace Research Laboratories at University of Exeter showed distressing contamination caused by organochlorines, particularly DDT and its components.

Analysis of water and sediment samples collected from the HIL Plant at Eloor in 2002 reconfirmed the contamination of the Kuzhikandam creek with a wide range of hazardous chemicals including DDT, hexachlorocyclohexanes and heavy metals.

This complex mixture of chemicals in water and sediment of the creek constitutes a long-term threat to aquatic life, fish, birds and humans as many of these compounds are persistent and bio-cumulative.

The study also found that the extreme environmental persistence of metallic and organochlorine pollution plus the continuing discharge of most of the detected pollutants into the creeks could be reasons for the worsening environmental condition.

Mr Ruth Stringer, senior Greenpeace scientist, who was the co-author of the report, said that it is appalling that HIL, which runs the last official DDT manufacturing facility in the country, should ignore the scientific evidence of pollution caused by the production of the world's deadliest pesticide.

DDT and many of other organochlorines found in the samples were toxic, highly persistent and can build up in the food chain. In addition, people could be exposed by working in the factory, handling the pesticides its makes, or by eating contaminated fish, meat, milk or eggs, the report said.

Mr Sanjiv Gopal, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace India said that the group, for over four years now has been campaigning with local groups in Kerala, investigating and exposing instances of toxic pollution caused by industries in Eloor that is responsible for impacts both on the environment and health of the local population.

He urged the State Government to ensure zero discharge and clean production measures to check environmental catastrophe unfolding in the region.

The Union Government should also phase out and substitute DDT immediately as required by the Stockholm Convention, he added.

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