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Health and
Fitness
Are We
Being Slow Poisoned?
by
Ramesh Menon
 Are you one of those Indian
parents who goad their children to drink milk? Just wait.
A study by the Indian Council of Medical Research on milk samples from
2205 cows and buffaloes came out with shocking results: 85 per cent of
the samples had pesticide levels above the acceptable level.
As cows and buffaloes chew on agriculture waste, they end up consuming
pesticide residues clinging to it-a direct fall out of excessive use of
pesticides in India.
As pesticide residues enter the food chain and gets into our breakfast,
lunch and dinner, Indian women have been found to have unacceptable
amounts of pesticide residues in their breast milk. Even the newborn is
not spared from day one. Studies on lactating mothers have shown just
that both in Delhi and Punjab.
There are few occasions as blissful as lunch and dinner when you live a
jet set life packed with meetings, conferences, deadlines and targets.
It is the time you take out to pamper yourself. The chappatis,
rice, dal, sabjis, salad and a bowl of curd all look so inviting.
After a hearty meal, you are planning to have some fruity desert that
has green grapes and rich red pomegranate pods. But, again, wait.
You may be consuming half a milligram of two of the most widely used
toxic pesticides in India: Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) and
Benzene Hexachloride (BHC). It may also have a dash of Malathion and
Endosulfan, two chemicals that are banned in most parts of the world. If
that has to be quantified, it is less than a pinpoint.
But this is 40 times more than what average Americans or British ingest
with their food.
Another ICMR study found large amounts of pesticide residues in fruits,
vegetables, pulses, grains, wheat flour, eggs, meat, fish, poultry and
milk. The spread on the dining table may actually be a cocktail of
chemicals…
As you pick up vegetables in the market, you pick on white cauliflower
associating it with freshness. But it is white, as it has been dipped in
pesticide after harvesting so that it loses that dull yellow look!
Pesticide residues in food can cause numerous health complications like
cancer, genetic defects and impotency. The toxins are here. The slow
poisoning of India has begun.
In the early 1960's, the debate about pesticides was largely confined to
industrialized nations. Today, India is at the center of the debate as
it indiscriminately uses pesticides. In 1960, India used pesticides on
six million hectares. By 1988, the total had increased to 80 million
hectares.
Today, India annually spreads over 1,54,000 tonnes of pesticides in its
fields to cover around 180 million hectares of cultivated area. All
pesticides are lethal poisons.
Chemicals like DDT and BHC are absorbed by the small intestine and stick
to our fatty tissues. Over the years, a body could store a wide variety
of these toxins. India is not only one of the largest users of
pesticide; it is also one of the largest manufacturers. The pesticide
industry in India worth over 50 billion rupees is booming.
In the last 50 years, India has dumped more than one million tonnes of
DDT and BHC on arable land. We absorb a bit of it everyday. At risk are
not only present generations, but also future ones as genetic mutations
can play havoc. Already, there are danger signals.
Areas like Warangal in Andhra Pradesh and Bhatinda in Punjab, which are
among the highest users of pesticide in India, are seeing an uneasy rise
in infertility clinics as young couples struggle with a new reality of
being childless. Both these areas are also seeing an increase in cancer
cases.
Pesticides also enhance the risks of cancer by acting as carcinogens. It
suppresses the immune system that could prevent creation of tumours in
the body.
DDT and BHC do not degrade easily. It can persist in the environment for
as long as 20 years. The soil becomes a reservoir for such pesticides
steadily transferring them to crops, polluting groundwater and impacting
natural and human life. India is the world’s largest user of DDT.
Pesticides attack the human immune system at different points. It could
result in numerous life threatening diseases like cancer, respiratory
aliments, skin diseases, kidney failure, impotence and ulcers.
However, the government does not think it necessary to ban dangerous
pesticides that are today banned in most parts of the world.
Forty pesticides banned all over the world due to its frightening after
effects on public health are all easily available in India. One of the
dangerous pesticides is Lindane. A study by the Ahmedabad based Consumer
Education and Research Society found that popular brands of wheat flour
contained Lindane.
Developed countries are lowering its maximum permissible limits of
pesticide residue, so as to safeguard health. They have also woven
Integrated Pest Management, organic farming and bio-pesticides in their
agricultural policy. But, India is refusing to see the danger of slow
poisoning. India does not have a pesticide policy.
But, India will be forced to clean up.
Once the WTO regulations come in, exports from India will collapse.
Today, large amounts of pesticide are used on the chilly crop in Guntur
at Andhra Pradesh. But once WTO specifications of food grade quality
come in, there will be no exports if such excessive amounts of pesticide
are used. Already, tea gardens in Darjeeling are turning organic as
countries like Germany are boycotting Indian tea that contains any
traces of pesticides. The writing on the wall is clear.
Western countries are now effectively building public opinion against
Indian goods like cotton textiles talking of how it is saturated with
poisonous chemicals hoping to cut down Indian exports. Large shipments
of grapes from India have been sent back to India as it was found to
have large amounts of pesticide residues. After suffering huge financial
losses with export rejects, grape farmers in Maharashtra are now moving
into organic farming.
Ironically, market forces may force us to move towards a healthier
future.
February 17, 2007
Image under license with Gettyimages.com
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