Toxic Alert
In large doses, cadmium is carcinogenic. A study now shows that even chronic exposure to the heavy metal in low doses causes breast cancer. …
Toxic punch: heavy use of pesticides depleting local fish and bird populations
Study from West Bengal documents 94 brands of pesticides, farmers most influenced by local dealers
Back in f(l)avour
Entry of high yielding hybrid rice has spelt doom for traditional diversity in the Konkan belt. Thanks to a science academy, the ancient legacy …
Wash out
In the guise of making washing easy, detergents are directing a chemical fusillade at the environment in the absence of regulation, discovers …
India cannot afford organic farming
S K SINHA national professor at the Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, spoke to Manish Tiwari on food …
Children of endosulfan
Several unusual diseases afflict a Kerala village. Residents blame aerial spraying of the pesticide endosulfan by the Plantation Corporation of …
Another Kasaragod
Like Kerala’s Kasaragod, neighbouring Dakshina Kannada is bearing the brunt of spraying of endosulfan. While Kasaragod grabbed media …
Relief given at last to Kerala’s endosulfan victims
Package includes committee to examine need for tribunal to provide compensation; excluded victims, kin and caregivers to benefit
Europe to phase out major pesticides
EU decides to withdraw about 320 substances used in plant protection products - including pesticides, fungicides and herbicides - from markets by …
This gel can protect farmers from toxic pesticides
Researchers at Institute for Stem Cell Science & Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru, developed poly-Oxime that deactivates toxic chemicals, …
India needs a comprehensive approach to prevent pesticide related suicides
Most persons who engage in suicidal behaviour don't want to die but the government lacks proper data on the incidence of pesticide poisoning …
FAO, WHO pesticide guidelines seek faster phasing out of toxins
Products with acute toxicity account for the high number of poisoning cases, particularly in the developing countries
Toxic truths
A soil bacterium produces a lethal toxin which kills insects as they chew their way into a plant
Cotton conundrum
The powers that be are hanging fire on Bt cotton despite long and intensive research. Indira Khurana delves into the baffling issue
Rules and renegades
Pesticide regulations in India are lax. The industry has exploited the loopholes to corrupt the system. And the government has turned a blind eye …
Industry's Nemesis
A report by the National Institute of Occupational Health nails endosulfan. Is that why the pesticide establishment wants to keep it under wraps?
The age of discovery
Research in rice genomics could be the key to eradicating hunger through environmentally sustainable methods, says Latha Rangan
Don’t touch
Half the toys tested have unsafe phthalate levels
Prominent Indian tea brands contain pesticides: Greenpeace
Study finds 67 per cent of tested samples of packed tea leaves contained banned pesticide DDT; some samples had acutely poisonous monocrotophos
Even the womb does not protect against pesticides
Air pollution is certainly an enemy of health. But there are others that may be even nastier. Chlorpyrifos -- a pesticide that can easily enter …
Microplastics all around: A silent epidemic
All types of sea creatures ingest microplastics; as they move up the food chain, the plastic ends up in the human gut
Why Brazil’s new pesticide rules should worry India
The country’s dilution of rules for pesticides such as glyphosate could spell a health crisis in India, which consumes its beans
Kashmir’s Dal Lake harbours bacteria that can degrade pesticides
The presence of naturally-occurring bacteria that is resistant to an insecticide widely used in the region may help in bioremediation …
Can farming mean a permanent renewal of life?
For the past three decades, the practice of permaculture has found acceptance from not just rural communities in India but also from urbanites …
In the Parliament on March 15, 2016
Here’s a round-up of today’s debates and reports on environmental and developmental issues