Industry, agriculture chemicals: indiscriminate use of chemicals posing serious health hazards

Indiscriminate use of chemicals not only affects the environment but also human beings, posing serious health hazards. This was stated in a consultative workshop for Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM)'s implementation in Pakistan, by the Ministry of Environment.
As an elaborate mechanism is lacking in the country, use of chemicals to achieve and maintain development tempo in agriculture, industry and urban settlements continues, and undermine public health as well as environment and natural resources. Even the wider awareness on impacts of chemicals, the use continues unhindered, exposing thousands of Pakistanis to long term harmful effects and deadly diseases like cancer, birth defects, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
The participants of the workshop also deliberated on various measures to control the use of chemicals or devise a strategy to carefully use these chemicals where unavoidable. Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry endorsed that these chemicals cause serious threats like reproductive and nerves system disorders and even sudden deaths and said the ministry was working on a holistic approach to address the issue.
Indiscriminate use of chemical is even defeating the very purpose of our development endeavours such as societal uplift, raised standards of living of populace, poverty alleviation, conservation of natural resources, cultural revival and sustainable development. Agricultural and industrial run off is polluting water supplies while factory and vehicle emissions are poisoning air and degrading environment. "The burden of environmental degradation is enormous and approximately Rs one billion every day," the official said.
As chemicals make or break our lives, sound chemicals Management improves availability, quantity and quality of food, reduce the incidence of disease, and improve public health. It is very difficult to say that people are not exposed to these chemicals in developed world. But, it also does not mean that their use should continue indiscriminately, he said. No doubt that every person has several hundred novel chemicals in his or her body. But, being surrounded by over 20 million chemical substances and production of 70,000 chemicals every year by global chemicals industry, is alarming.
According to the Environment Ministry, around 17,000 chemicals are used in everyday consumer products freely sold in the market place such as air fresheners, cleaners, carpet and hair shampoos, dish washing detergents and liquids, disinfectants, drain openers, stain removers, floor and window polish, window panel cleaners.
More than 3000 different chemicals are used in personal care cosmetic products and all these Chemicals need to be very carefully evaluated for their impacts on human health and environment and all users need to be informed accordingly. This situation calls for developing a system capable of accounting full costs of the adverse impacts of chemicals on public health, including lost productivity and income due to illness and expenditures incurred on treatment of the ailments.