Homicide by Pesticides: What Pollution does to our Bodies

THIS BOOK CONTAINS a series of papers which illustrate the threat posed to public health by environmental pollution in India. Different forms of pollution are discussed, including pesticides, air and water pollution, and their impact or “cost” is assessed in terms of public health or economic loss. Throughout the book, government apathy is shown to be a key factor hindering public knowledge of this problem and any remedial action. Based on current trends and on typical government priorities for economic growth, the author’s predictions for future levels of pollution are grave; although the book is centred around Indian environmental issues, cross references to other countries illustrate how these predictions apply to many countries operating without sufficient environmental legislation. The book concludes that, without some reconciliation between environmental needs and economic development, the human cost of coping with such severe levels of pollution will be extremely high.

The first chapter estimates the costs of environmental damage in India, including many types of degradation such as health damage, land erosion, and water and air contamination; real costs are measured in terms of health costs incurred due to the growing pollution of the environment and the cost of losses in production due to natural resource degradation. Estimates in economic terms reach US$ 7 billion a year and the author claims that India has one of the most degraded environments in the world. In addition, the study examines the severity of air pollution and its links to cancer, heart disease, brain damage and other extreme health problems.

Focusing upon cancer as an environmentally related disease, the next chapter looks at the link between pesticides and some forms of cancer; the author’s personal battle with a rare form of cancer is also described. A third chapter discusses the results of an environmental study on the quality of the Yamuna river; by tracing the sources of contamination, the report reveals which chemicals and wastes pollute the river and who is affected – in this case, millions of citizens living downstream from the developing agricultural sector in Haryana, whose chemical run-offs are heavily contaminating the river. Short-sighted planning, public ignorance and government apathy create the framework within which city residents consume severely polluted and dangerously contaminated water.

The next chapter explains the effects of consuming contaminated water – how the chemical pollution caused by pesticides can destroy the human immune system, leading to a greater susceptibility to respiratory, gastro-intestinal and other infectious diseases as well as increasing the risk of cancer. In India, where human exposure to pesticides is extremely high, this is a cause for serious concern. The final chapter describes how environmental pollution can affect the urban foetus, causing abortions, birth defects, death in the womb and other problems. In addition, adult exposure to such pollution can affect fertility levels and the quality of mothers’ milk. The chapter cites a number of pollution sources and the dangers they hold for mothers and the foetus.