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Toxins entering human body

Toxins enter the human body mainly through the consumption of fatty foods such as fish and marine animals.

“A woman can transmit toxic pesticide residues accumulated during her lifetime to the child during the first few months,” says Dr Devika Nag, Professor and Head of the neurology department at the famous King George Medical College in Lucknow, India.

A growing infant, with a high hormonal activity, can suffer effects related to endocrine disruption. This manifest at puberty in the form of sexual dysfunction, undescended testicles, slow intellectual development, slow cognitive and physical growth and reduced immunological functions.

Extreme cases of poisoning could result even in death.

“Around the world, more than 3 million suffer from acute pesticide poisoning of which two hundred thousand actually die — mostly in countries like India,” says Bittu Sahgal, environment activist and editor of Sanctuary magazine.

DDT is banned in Europe and America but not in some developing countries. And, Endosulfan continues to be used.
Though the government has banned this in the late 1980’s in the agriculture sector, DDT is still the insecticide of choice. In spite of the growing evidence that DDT is gradually proving ineffective because mosquitoes are getting resistant to it, it is still widely used.

When the harmful effects of these pesticides were recognized, they were banned in Europe and America, but they are still used in some developing countries. This is mainly because in these developing countries, they are ignorant of the fact that alternatives to these dangerous chemicals do exist.

Endosulfan has been identified as an extremely harmful pesticide for human beings. Endosulfan can cause severe damage to skin, central nervous system, liver, kidneys and reproductive system, according to a publication of the US Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Endosulfan is at the top of the priority list of the pesticides to be banned through an international treaty known as Persistent Organic Pollution Elimination Treaty under the aegis of the United Nations Environmental Program.

Though such pesticides are widely used, there is no substantial regulation to meet the threat posed by them.