ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND HEALTH EFFECTS

COVERAGE

TOXICOLOGY EFFECTS
 Eco-toxicology - study of effects of pollutants on environment and biota that inhabit
it.

Rem
*Rem: Roentgen equivalent men

 Indicates biological damage.

 An estimate of amount of radiation that has creates biological injury equivalent to
injury from absorption of a given amount of X-ray or gamma radiation.
Iodine – 131

 Produced by nuclear tests – passes to vegetation - milk of cattle - humans.

 Serious damage to thyroid gland, especially in children.
 About 99% of long-term radioactivity from strontium or radium taken into human
body is found in bones.

Lead

 Highly toxic to plants and animals including human.

 Affects children more severely than adults.
 Lead poisoning causes liver and kidney damage, reduction in haemoglobin
formulation, mental retardation and abnormality in fertility and pregnancy.
 3 types of chronic lead-poisoning symptoms
1. Gastrointestinal troubles - most common in industrial workers and includes
intestinal stress.
2. Neuromuscular effects - collectively called lead palsy and impairment of muscle
metabolism leading to residual paralysis and muscular atrophy.
3. Central nervous system effects - CNS syndrome - may lead to delirium (abrupt
change in brain that causes mental confusion & emotional disruption),
convulsions coma and death.

Mercury

 Most common and most toxic in water bodies.

 Occurs in water as monomethyl mercury and Most industrial effluents have mercury.
 Methyl mercury vapours cause fatal poisoning.
 High levels of mercury in fishes have been found in Mumbai, Kolkata, Karwar (in
Karnataka) and North Koel (in Bihar)
 CFLs have added to the mercury pollution.

Fluorine

 Occurs in naturally as fluoride, in air, soil and water.

 Fluorosis - common problem due to high fluoride content water.
 Dental fluorosis, stiffness of joints (particularly spinal cord) causing humped back.
 Knock-Knee syndrome - pain in bones and joint and outward bending of legs from
the knees.
 In cattle, fluoride intake causes staining, mottling and abrasion of teeth, lameness
and decrease in milk production.
DDT

 Toxic pesticides as BHC, PCB, DDT etc. do not degrade easily

 Their concentration goes on increasing in water and soil with successive
applications.
 DDT has been sprayed for years to control mosquitoes.
 It has bio-magnified from water to fish eating birds and humans.
 DDT can depress the activity of estrogen and testosterone.
 Fish die after eating DDT-killed insects, turtles die because of eating DDT-killed fish
and so on.
 DDT deposited in butter fat of milk is dangerous to infants.
 Predatory birds like fist hawk (osprey) and detritus feeders like fiddler crab have
been wiped out due to DDT.
 Birds are more vulnerable - DDT interferes with egg shell formation resulting in
fragile eggs - break before hatching.

LEAD IN PAINTS
 Lead is cheap option used in paints for increasing its performance.
 Inhaling lead dust from paints is the most common source of lead poisoning.
 Human body is not designed to process lead.
 Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead as it can damage the central
nervous system and the brain.

TRANSFAT
 Formed by addition of hydrogen atoms to oils – Done by industry to ensure a longer
shelf life. (Ex - trans-fatty acid in vanaspati).
 Causes serious health isuues - diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
 Health ministry in 2008 mandated labelling food with trans fats.
 Junk food is high in transfats, salt and sugar without nutrition.
 Junk food is addictive and thus makes young vulnerable to hypertension, heart
diseases, diabetes and obesity.

HIGH CAFFEINE IN ENERGY DRINKS

 Energy drinks have high caffeine content - Most brands have upto 320 ppm of
caffeine.
 Manufacturers claim that a combination of caffeine, taurine, vitamins, herbal
supplements and sugar give energy.
 But Reports say - it is the sugar that gives energy rush and caffeine only gives a
‘feeling’ of energy.
 Energy drinks are under the category of ‘Proprietary foods’ in Prevention of Food
Adulteration (PFA) Act of 1954.
 An amendment in PFA act 2009 ensured that caffeine in energy drinks should be
capped at 145 ppm.
 However, Red Bull managed to get stay order on amendment.
 Since then the energy drink market is expanding unregulated.
 FSSAI is currently making regulations on energy drinks.
 Problems of high caffeine – Anxiety, Insomnia, Digestive Issues, Muscle Breakdown,
Addiction, High Blood Pressure, Rapid Heart Rate and even Fatigue.
PESTICIDE IN HUMAN BLOOD
 15 pesticides found in 20 blood samples of 4 villages in Punjab
 LD 50 – is a value used to measure acute toxicity. It is the dose required to kill half
the tested population in a duration
 The lower the LD 50 - more acutely toxic the pesticide is.
 Also, Pesticides once ingested - accumulate in body fat is are fat soluble or or pass
through if are water soluble
 Organochloride pesticides - accumulate in body fat and blood lipids (fat-soluble) and
persist in body for many years

DISEASES CAUSED
Minamata disease

 First discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956 - AIso

called Chisso-Minamata disease.
 Caused by the release of methyl mercury in industrial wastewater from Chisso
Corporation’s chemical factory.
 A neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.
 Symptoms - ataxia, numbness in hands & feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing
of vision & damage to hearing and speech.
 In extreme cases - insanity, paralysis, coma, and death follow within weeks of onset
of symptoms.
 A congenital form of disease can affect foetuses in womb.
 This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and
the Shiranui Sea.
 Cat, dog, pig, and human deaths continued over more than 30 years - but
government and company did little to prevent the pollution.

Yokkaichi asthma

 Yokkaichi asthma - in Yokkaichi city in Japan (1960 - 1972)

 Burning of petroleum released large quantities of sulfur oxide
 It caused severe smog - resulting in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema and bronchial asthma in locals.

Itai-itai disease –

 Itai-itai was the case of mass cadmium poisoning in Toyama Prefecture, Japan in
1972 - Cadmium was released into rivers by mining companies in mountains.
  It caused softening of bones and kidney failure.
 The mining companies were successfully sued for damage

Blue baby syndrome –

 Caused by high nitrate contamination in ground water.

 It resulted in decreased oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies leading to
death.
 The source of pollution couldn’t be established clearly.
 Probably, the groundwater was contaminated by nitrate leaching from fertilizers
used in agriculture and waste dumps.
 Or it could also be related to pesticides (DDT, PCBs etc) which cause eco toxicological
problems in the food chains, increasing BOD, which kills aquatic animals.

Pneumoconiosis

 Coal miners - frequently catch black lung disease or Pneumoconiosis.

 Caused due to the deposit of coal dust in the lungs.

Asbestosis – Serious lung disease in workers in asbestos industry.

Silicosis - due to deposit of silica in the lungs of workers working in silica industries or at
sand blasting sites

Emphysema - Breaking down of sensitive tissues of lungs due to air pollution or cigarette
smoke.

 Lungs cannot expand or contract properly in this.

Sick building syndrome (SBS) - combination of ailments associated with an individual’s

place of work or residence.

o Most of it is related to poor indoor air quality – due to flaws in heating,

ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
o Other causes - Contaminants produced by out gassing of some building
materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC), molds, improper exhaust
ventilation of ozone, light industrial chemicals or lack of adequate fresh-air
intake.

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

1. CHIPKO MOVEMENT - a social-ecological movement that used Gandhian methods of

non-violent resistance through the act of hugging trees to protect them from falling.
o Started in early 1970s in Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, with growing
awareness towards rapid deforestation.
 o Landmark event - March 26, 1974 – a group of peasant women in Reni
village, in Chamoli district acted to prevent cutting of trees by the contractor
system of state Forest Department.
o By 1980s - Movement had spread across India and led to formulation of
people-sensitive forest policies
o Helped in stopping open felling of trees in Vindhyas and the Western Ghats
too.
o Amrita Devi - First recorded event of Chipko in India took place in Khejarli,
Jodhpur in 1730 AD.
 363 Bishnois led by Amrita Devi sacrificed their lives while protecting
green sacred Khejri trees by hugging them
 They braved the axes of loggers sent by local ruler.
2. APPIKO MOVEMENT
o A revolutionary environmental movement
o The Chipko movement inspired the villagers of Karnataka to launch a
similar movement to save their forests.
o September 1983 - Men, women & children of Salkani hugged trees in Kalase
forest. (“hugging” in Kannada is appiko.)

3. International Standards and Environment

o LISO 14000 standards help organizations minimize their operations that
negatively affect environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land)
o This also helps organizations comply with applicable laws, regulations and other
environmental requirements.
o ISO 14000 is similar to ISO 9000 that helps in quality management – both relate
to process of production rather than the product itself.
o ISO 9000 - certification by third party not ISO directly.
4. The National Wastelands Development Board (NWDB) – ( 1985)
o to increase green cover on wasteland
o to prevent good land from becoming wasteland
o to formulate policy for management and development of wastelands in country.
5. Bioassay
o A test where organisms are used to detect the presence or effect of any other
physical factor, chemical factor, or any other type of ecological disturbance.
o Very common in pollution studies.
o Maximum acceptable toxicant concentration (MATC) is determined.
o Bioassays can be conducted by using any type of organisms.
o However, fish and insect bioassays are very common.
o Organism is exposed to different concentrations of a toxicant for a period
o Mortality, behavioral change or signs of distress are noted periodically.
 o Static bioassay - Organisms are exposed to same toxicant solution for whole
experimental period.
o Other two types are - renewal bioassay and flow-through bioassays.

6. FLAGSHIP SPECIES

o A species chosen to raise support for biodiversity conservation in a given

place/social context.
o Criterion can be vulnerability, attractiveness or distinctiveness.
o Idea - by giving publicity to few key species, conservation of entire ecosystems
and species can be ensured.
o Example: Indian tiger, African elephant, giant panda of China, mountain gorilla of
Central Africa, orangutans of Southeast Asia and the leatherback sea turSPECIE
7. Keystone species - Whose addition or loss leads to major changes in abundance
of at least one other species.
o Certain species are functionally more important in deciding presence of many
other species.
o All top predators (Tiger, Lion, Crocodile, Elephant) are considered keystone
species - they regulate all other animals’ population indirectly.
o Key stone species deserve special attention from conservation point of view.
Indicator species
8. Indicator species
A species whose presence indicates presence of a set of other species and whose absence
indicates lack of that entire set of species.
 o It also defines a trait or characteristic of the environment.
o Indicator species are most sensitive species and sometimes act as an early
warning to monitoring biologists.
o Many indicator species of the ocean systems are fish, invertebrates, periphyton,
macrophytes and specific species of ocean birds (like the Atlantic Puffin).
o Amphibians indicate chemicals, global warming and air pollution.
o Lichens are indicators of air quality and are sensitive to sulfur dioxide.

9. Foundation species - The dominant primary producer in an ecosystem both in

terms of abundance and influence.
o Example: kelp in kelp forests and corals in coral reefs.

10. Charismatic megafauna - Large species with symbolic value or popular appeal
which are used by environmental activists to achieve environmentalist goals.
o Examples - Giant Panda, Bengal Tiger, and Blue Whale.

11. Umbrella species - Wide-ranging species whose needs match with many other
species.
o Protection automatically extends protection to other species.