The Most Dangerous Chemicals in the World

Hwaa Irfan

Allah created everything, and He (swt) connected all life forms – great and small and the Seen and the Unseen- as finely balanced system. However, man has the choice to determine whether it is worthy of protecting.

Towards this decision, 120 countries came together in May of 2001 at the International Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Stockholm, Sweden. The convention discussed restricting the use of a group of chemicals the UN calls “the most dangerous in the world”. The countries ratified a treaty that will control the production, import, export, disposal and use of these chemicals and immediately ban 12 of the most dangerous. These “dirty dozen” are: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxophane, polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene, dioxins and furans (ENS, p.1).

POPs can last for decades before breaking-down, and if released in one part of the world, can spread, through a repeated and often seasonal process of depositing and evaporation.

1. Aldrinis an organochloride (OC). These were banned in 1971 in the U.S. and in the UK after 1978, but remain in use in the ‘illegal’ farming industry and within some developing countries (Tuormaa, p.2). As an insecticide, it is used to douse electric cables and is applied to soil to kill termites and other insects. Consequentially it also injures animals and humans. The fatal dose for humans is estimated at 50g. Humans are exposed through dairy products and animal meat (ENS, p.4).
2. Chlordaneis an insecticide used on a broad range of agricultural crops. It remains in the soil for long periods of time and can affect the human immune system through exposure from the air. It has been detected in the atmosphere of homes in both the U.S. and Japan.
3. DDTis an organochloride prototype (Lancet, p.6). Organochlorides (OCs)can cause: premature labor, miscarriages, spina bifida, facial clefts, hydrocencepaly, toxicity in the brain, multiple sclerosis and immune disorders (Tuormaa, p.2 -4). The U.S. used OCs to control pests in the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War (Gulflink, p.1). After human ingestion, OCs can be detected in the body from several months to several years after exposure. They are used in a variety of agricultural crops, especially cotton. Up to 50% can remain in the soil for 15 years after application. Studies in Brazil and India showed levels of DDT in miscarried fetuses and premature babies (Tuormaa, p.2). Though banned in 34 countries and restricted in another 34, it is still detected in food all over the world, including human breast milk. However, due to the fight against malaria it has been given a health related exemption (ENS, p.3).
4. Dieldrinis a pesticide used for termites, textile pests, the control of insect-borne diseases and insects living in agricultural soils. It has been found in ground vegetables and human and cow milk (Tuormaa, p.2). It was the second most common pesticide detected in a U.S. survey of pasteurized milk.
5. Dioxins: For information on dioxins see archived article: From Our Gardens To Our Tables.
6. Endrinis an insecticide sprayed on leaves of grain and cotton crops. It also kills rodents and can remain in soil for up to 12 years. Humans are exposed through food (ENS, p.5).
7. Furansare by-products of the same processes that produce dioxins and PCBs. There are 135 different types of furans, which have differing levels of toxicity. They are classified as human carcinogens. Human exposure occurs through food, especially animal products.
8. Heptachloris used to kill soil insects, termites, cotton, insects and mosquitoes. Humans are exposed through food (ENS, p.5).
9. Hexachlorobenzene(HCB) kills fungi on food crops. It is also a by-product of industrial chemicals. When the Eastern Turkish ate HCB treated seed grain in 1954 – 1959, they developed photosensitive skin lesions, colic, and a metabolic disorder called porphyria turcica, which killed 14% of the people. Mothers passed HCB to infants through the placenta and breast milk. A study of Spanish meat found HCB in all samples (ENS, p.6).
10. Mirexis used for fire ants and as a fire retardant in plastics, rubber and electric goods. It is toxic to plants, fish and crustaceans (ENS, p.6).
11. Polychlorinated Biphenyls(PCBs) are used in electric transformers and capacitors, paint, carbonless copy paper and plastics (ENS, p.6). The U.S. Navy is exempt from the Basel Convention, which prohibits the export of PCBs and other hazardous wastes (Raj, p.1). PCBs are toxic to fish. Humans are exposed through food contamination.

Contaminated rice oil in Japan (1968) and Taiwan (1979) caused pigmentation of nails and mucus membranes, swellings of eyelids, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Children born up to seven years after the Taiwan incident showed developmental delays and behavioral problems. PCBs suppress the human immune system (ENS, p.6).

12. Toxophaneis used to protect cotton, cereal grains, fruits, nuts and vegetables from pests. It can stay in the soil for up to 12 years. It is also toxic to fish (ENS, p.6).

For more details go: http://www.cdpr.ca.gov (an online source of information on the pesticide label database).

Banning the 12 pesticides above is certainly a step in the right direction. However, it is only a fraction of global production of pesticides that continue to wreak havoc on all life forms.

The Prophet Mohammad said, ” Three things follow the bier of a dead man, two of them come back and one is left with him: The members of his family, wealth and his goods. The members of his family and wealth comeback and the deeds are left with him” (Sahih Muslim, p.2).

References

• “Report Health Risk of Pesticide Exposure To US Troops.” Gulflink. 16/01/01.
• The Lancet. “Clinical Evaluation of Pesticides Exposure & Poisonings.” The Lancet. 06/12/00.
• Raj, R, Dev. “Green Groups To Resist Toxic Dumping.” IPS. 1/22/98.
• “World Bans The Dirty Dozen Most Dangerous Chemicals.” Environmental News Service. 5/22/01.
• Park, Rozella.“An Examination of International Environmental Racism Through the Lens of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes.”School of Law: Bloomington Press. 01/04/01.
• Tuormaa, Tuula. “Pesticides: The Poisons All Around Us”. London. WDDTY. 6:3(1995)1-3.

Hwaa Irfan is a staff writer for Health and Science section of Islamonline
Source: islamonline.net