Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005
Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | New Delhi
Bindu Shajan Perappadan
NEW DELHI: Heavy doses of pesticides have been detected in one Government hospital and four leading private hospitals in the Capital, according to a survey conducted by Delhi-based non-Government organisation Toxics Link. The survey, undertaken to gauge pesticide abuse in city hospitals, found heavy doses of dangerous chemicals like pyrethroids, carbamate, organophosphate, coumarin, pyrazole and inorganic zinc being used without checks in the screened hospitals, posing risk of diseases such as cancer, genetic damage, decreased fertility, stillbirth and disturbed immune system resulting in asthma and allergy. Conducted in January this year, the study revealed that 80 per cent of the hospitals surveyed used chemical pesticides and hired an outside contractor to do the job. Also, all these hospitals used pesticides routinely without examining the need for them. "Only two hospitals claimed to follow Integrated Pest Management practices, while none had any pest plans or policy. They did not post any warning or notification signs for the staff or patients or the general public when these pesticides were being applied. Worse still, most hospitals were not aware of the correct method for pesticide applications,'' said the Programme Officer of Toxics Link, Yamini Sharma. It was also found that people who applied pesticides did not use protective masks and gloves even when they were provided to them, clearly indicating lack of education regarding pesticide use among staff.
Risk of exposure
"The most common method of application was spraying which accounts for the maximum risk of exposure to these chemicals. None of the hospitals were aware of the alternatives that could be used, including biological controls, boric acids and pyrethrum formulations, sticky traps, silica gels and vacuums. It is only recently that pest management has become virtually synonymous with use of chemical pesticides. This unsustainable trend needs to be reversed. Ecological methods of pest control must replace the risky over dependence on chemicals,'' said Jose Kutty George, owner of a company which provides environment-friendly pesticides used at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the British High Commission in New Delhi. Speaking about pesticide toxicity warning levels, Ms. Yamini Sharma explained: "The toxicity ratings only apply to the acute toxicity of the product. The warning labels therefore do not take into account a products ability to cause chronic effects such as cancer, birth defects and long term health damage.'' "It is important that hospitals make pest management a central administrative function. Senior people should monitor this instead of it being a routine activity left to Class IV staff,'' she added.
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