Beach banes

THE Mediterranean coastline has become a dumping ground for cement,asbestos and chemical companies innorthern Lebanon, which release cancer-causing toxins into it. According to theenvironmental group Greenpeace, testscarried out at the Lebanese cities ofChekka and Selaata showed that emissions from five cement factories in thearea were polluting the air and the seas.The tests were carried but by the EarthResearch Centre at Exeter University, Britain at the request of the Associationfor the Protection of the Environmentin the Kura region. The association hascalled for the installation of filters andequipment to treat effluents at allcement, asbestos and chemical factories.Tests conducted at Chekaa found several toxic chemicals used in insecticideswhich are banned by the EuropeanUnion. The samples contained HCH, achemical that can cause cancer, heartproblems, diarrhoea and convulsions. Acoke sample from a company revealedpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,called PAHS in the air which can also leadto cancer.