Lok Sabha Question No. 264 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-06
Subject: Environmental Toxins
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Sajda Ahmed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 264 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH DECEMBER , 2019 ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS

## *264. SHRIMATI SAJDA AHMED:

Will  the  Minister  of  HEALTH  AND  FAMILY  WELFARE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken note that environmental toxins are an of serious concern in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the measures taken by the Governm ent to fight against eco - toxicity;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to set up Research Centre/Laboratory to the environmental toxicity among patients and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the  number  of  people  diagnosed  with  dangerous  levels of  environmental toxins/heavy metals in their systems in AIIMS, Delhi recently?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a) to ( d):  A statement is laid on the Table of the House

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 264* FOR 6 TH DECEMBER , 2019

(a)  &(b)  Government  has  taken  note  of  the  environmental  toxins,  which  a generally considered as harmful chemicals having adverse effects on health environment. It includes pollutants, heavy metals (such as lead, mercury, etc.), pesticides ,insecticides and other chemicals (such as benzene, formaldehydes, radon,  bis - phenol - A  and  phthalates  etc.).  Mini stry  of  Environment  Forest  and Climate Change (MOEFCC) is the nodal ministry for formulating policies rela to industrial chemical management and hazardous waste, to control their har impact  /  effects  on  environment  and  human  health.  MOEFCC  is  admini stering following  set  of  rules  for  chemical  and  waste  management  under  provisions Water  (Prevention  and  Control  of  Pollution)  Act,  1974;  Air  (Prevention Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986:

(i)  Manufacture  Stora ge  and  Import  of  Hazardous  Chemicals  (MSIHC) Rules,  1989  and  Chemical  Accident  (Emergency  Planning,  Preparedness  and Response)  (CAEPPR)  Rules,  1996 -The  MSIHC  Rules,  1989  &  CA  (EPPR) Rules, 1996 have been notified to put in place a risk management framewo rk for ensuring chemical safety at industrial installations. The MSIHC Rules, 1989 prevent major chemical accidents arising from industrial activities as well the  effects  of  chemical  (industrial)  accidents.  The  CA  (EPPR)  Rules, provide s statutory framework for setting up four tier crisis management frame at national, state, district and local level with organizational support. F rules  provide  the  criteria  for  identification  of  Major  Accident  Hazard installations.

(i i) The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 -The PLI Act, 1991 provides statutory recognition to 'no fault' liability such that where death or injury to any person or damage to property has resulted from a hazardous substance accident owner  of  hazard ous  substance  is  held  liable  to  provide  relief  through  dis administration.

(iii) Regulation on Lead contents in Household and Decorative Paints Ru 2016 -The rules prohibit manufacture, trade, import and export of household decorative paints c ontaining lead or lead compounds (calculated as lead metal) excess of 90 parts per  million  (0.009 per  cent.)  of the  weight  of  the  to -volatile content of the weight of the dried paints film.

(iv) Regulation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Order, 20 16- The rules bans manufacture,  import,  use  of  Polychlorinated  Biphenyls  (PCBs),  PCB  contain equipment. The PCBs are one of the 12 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) l under  Stockholm  Convention  for  elimination.  The  PCBs  have  been  used  in transfor mer oils, capacitor oils etc. due to insulating and non - flammable properties. The  rules  require  occupiers  to  identify,  label  and  remove  PCB - containing equipments  from  use  by  2025,  and  manage  those  wastes  in  an  environmentall sound manner not later than 20 28.

(v) Regulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants Rules, 2018: The purpos the said rules is to prohibit the manufacture, trade, use, import and expo seven chemicals namely (i) Chlordecone, (ii)Hexabromobiphenyl, (ii Hexabromodiphenyl ether and Heptabromodiphenylether (Commercial octa - BDE), (iv) Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and Pentabromodiphenyl ether (Commercial penta -BDE), (v) Pentachlorobenzene, (vi) Hexabromocyclododecane and (vii) Hexachlorobutadiene.

(vi) Hazardous and Other Wastes (Manag ement and Transboundary Movement) Rule 2016: The rules have been framed in the priority of prevent minimization,  reuse,  recycling,  recovery,  co  processing;  and  safe  disposa rules make it mandatory for facilities dealing with hazardous and other w astes t obtain  authorization  from  State  Pollution  Control  Boards/Pollution  Con Committees. The rules also regulate the import and export of hazardous and wastes in the country.

(vii)  E - waste  Management  Rules,  2016:  The  rules  mention  manufacturer , dealer, refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) as addit stakeholders for management of e - waste. The Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury - containing lamp brought under the purview of rules. The rule prescribe Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach, which may include setting  up  of  PRO,  e - waste  exchange,  e - retailer,  Deposit  Refund  Scheme  as implementation mechanism. Collection targets have been prescribed for produc to ensure efficient channelization of e - waste and monitoring compliance under the rules.

(viii) Bio - Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016; The rules are applicable for  concerned  stakeholders  who  are  involved  in  generation,  collection,  re storage, transport, treatment, disposal, or handling bio - medical waste. The Rules prescribe phasing out of chlorinated plastic bags, gloves beyond March 27, 2 medical applications except blood bags.

(c) The National Environmental Health Profile study was initiated by the Mini of  Environment,  Forest and  Climate  Change  aiming  to  make  an  assessment  of human health impact in consequence of exposure to air pollution in 20 sel cities across the country. The study covered 20 cities in 4 zones of the co North,  South,  East  and  West  and  is  a  col laborative  effort  of  Central  Pollution Control Board (CPCB)/ State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Cont Committees (PCCs) and medical institutions. The data generated b CPCB/SPCBs/PCCs related to spatial and temporal distribution of air pol lution is evaluated by  medical  institutions  on  the  health  manifestations.  A  core  gr eminent  healthcare  professionals  and  representatives  of  AIIMS  New  Delh PGIMER Chandigarh, Indian Council of Medical Research, National Centre for Disease  Control  (N CDC),  Ministry  of  Health  and  Family  Welfare  and  Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was formed with the following objectives:

- (i) To  generate  evidence  for  impact  of  air  pollution  on  human  heal through systematic review/meta - analysis using available studie s
- (ii) To compare the level of air pollution, health outcomes across twe cities in the country
- (iii) To determine the effects of air pollution on health outcomes
- (iv) To develop a model to predict the health outcomes attributable to pollution

Simultaneously, to d iagnose the cases of toxicity, a 'Clinical Ecotoxicology (Diagnostic & Reseacrch) Facility' has been established at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in August, 2019. The facility has been provi diagnostic services to the patients referred from different OPDs, Wards and ICUs of AIIMS, New Delhi. At present the diagnostic tests for toxic elements and metals  are  being  provided.  The  facility  is  also  engaged  in  research  rel environmental exposure to toxic elements, heavy me tals and its impact on human health.  Various  collaborative  research  projects  funded  by  Government  of  I (Department of Health Research, Indian Council of Medical Reseacrh (ICMR) an Department of Science & Technology) are ongoing.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is also monitoring the water quality of  aquatic  resources  throughout  the  country  in  association  with  State  Po Control Boards/Committees under National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP).  The monitoring network covers 402 2 locations covering surface and groundwater locations. The water quality is assessed for various physico - chemical, bacteriological, heavy metals and pesticide concentration.

Further, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIHPH), Kol had undertaken  investigation  on  causes  of  arsenic  pollution  in  West  Benga developing  a  field  model  for  removal  of  arsenic  from  ground  water  and community  based  projects  to  mitigate  arsenic  pollution  in  West  Bengal Jharkhand. AIIHPH has also undert aken a study on leaching of toxins from Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) & plastic bottles used for packaging pharmaceutical preparations, soft drinks and alcohol.

National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) - ICMR has been carrying out various investigations on trace metal exposure and toxicity to investiga heavy mental  poisoning,  musculoskeletal  disorders,  pesticide  poisoning  etc.  in  v occupational groups. This Institute also has the capability to detect and asure several toxic elements including heavy metals (including lead, arsenic, mang etc.),  pesticides,  phthalates,  volatile  organic  compounds  and  several chemicals used in various industries as well as those in the environment.

In addition to above, the following institutes also have capabilities for p health surveillance for analyzing toxins:

1. Poison Information Centres at NIOH Ahmedabad, AIIMS New Delhi and Sri Ramchandra Medical College (SRMC), Chennai.
2. CSIR - Institute for industrial T oxicology Research, Lucknow
3. Forensic Labs also have the capability to detect the environmental toxi

(d) During an analysis of causes of serious illnesses in patients where the c diseases were not forthcoming, it was found that out of the 310 pa tients in AIIMS, New Delhi, 147 have been diagnosed with high levels of environmental  toxi heavy  metals.  The  environmental  toxins  found  in  the  positive  cases  incl flouride, mercury, vanadium, chromium, managnese , iron, zinc and lead.

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