Govt, industry team up for study on asbestos use.
Byline: Nitin Sethi NEW DELHI: The government and the Indian asbestos industry are colluding to "generate" a science that will help the industry survive a global move to cut down use of the cancer-causing material. Several prominent trade unions and civil society groups have complained...

Recommendations for codes of conduct.
What obligation does a scientist have to ensure that his/her work is used for the benefit of mankind? That serious question is being asked frequently these days, especially in the biochemical and microbiological communities, where pathogenic organisms can easily be created. Chemists also must consider the ethical implications of...

Asbestos lobby to study health hazards.
Byline: Nitin Sethi NEW DELHI: You have heard of the cigarette lobby funding research on impact of tobacco consumption abroad. Now, hear it in the case of asbestos in India. The asbestos lobby has partially funded a research commissioned by chemicals and fertilisers ministry to...

Regulacion, utilizacion y practicas de venta minorista de los pesticidas en Trinidad y Tobago, Indias Occidentales: situacion actual y cambios necesarios.
ABSTRACT Objective. To explore pesticide regulation in Trinidad and Tobago, and to ascertain pesticide utilization and retailers' selling practices on Trinidad, which is the larger of twin islands that constitute the republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Methods. Between February and June 2005, agrochemical retailers in...

New U.N. treaty on toxic exports.
It's taken more than 5 years, but on Feb. 24, the Rotterdam Convention--an agreement governing trade in a specified list of hazardous chemicals and pesticides--was finally ratified by enough nations to become a United Nations treaty. Most nations, however, had been abiding by its provisions on a voluntary basis...

The Arctic environmental protection strategy, Arctic council and multilateral environmental initiatives: tinkering while the Arctic marine environment totters.
INTRODUCTION The Arctic marine environment is not pristine, as commonly imagined, but is facing numerous pressures, (1) the most serious arguably coming from outside the region. Melting of sea ice, linked to global warming, threatens the long-term survival of various species including polar bears (2) and has...

Asbestos--it still makes us sick.
CANADA HAS A DARK PAST when it comes to asbestos. Although the dangers of asbestos were documented as early as 1900, half a century passed before this information was made public. Asbestos is a fibrous mineral with a composition that makes it incredibly fire-resistant yet soft and pliable--and adapted...

Toward a New Foreign Policy.
Rapid U.S. ratification of the Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions will spur other nations to join in meeting the goal of ratification by 50 countries before September 2002. The U.S. played a key role in initiating the international discussions that ultimately led to the Stockholm Convention, and it would be...

Ratifying Global Toxics Treaties: The U.S. Must Provide Leadership.
The international community has, at long last, recognized that there are some toxic chemicals that are just too dangerous to produce, use, and store--put simply, too dangerous to have on the planet. The global treaty resulting from this recognition is an important and welcome international policy milestone that is...

Problems with Current U.S. Policy.
President Bush announced just prior to Earth Day 2001 that he intended to sign the POPs treaty in Stockholm and move quickly toward ratification. He pointed toward the bipartisan nature of this commitment, as it was finalizing a process overseen by his Democratic predecessor. Many U.S. NGOs welcomed the...