Pesticide POPs, their Impacts and Sustainable Development:A Synthesis

A number of toxic and persistent chemicals are used as essential materials for agricultural development and protection against insect-borne human diseases. An International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemical of UNEP has recorded a total of four million chemicals, both anthropogenic and natural, including those produced through biological processes. In addition, 30,000 new chemical compounds each year are also documented. Among these, 60,000-70,000 commonly used chemicals are present in air, water and food. Some chemicals are potentially toxic. On entering living organisms, toxins even in very dilute concentration cause malfunctioning of vital activities and eventually lead to impaired health and even unwanted death of the organisms. Toxins exert their effects at subcellular-, cellular-, system-, individual-, species-, population-, community- and ecosystem levels. Toxic and persistent chemicals undoubtedly require management for protecting the life support system on earth.

The Stockholm Convention (2004) on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) sets out control measures for 12 chemicals, the so called "dirty dozen". Since the Stockholm Conference, the global chemical industry has grown almost nine folds and an annual growth rate of about 3 percent is expected to continue over the next three decades, with a considerable increase in trade as reported by OECD. Assuming the future of current trends of development, the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 launched the concept of sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Thanks to biotechnologist for their innovations, solutions to some toxicological problems through genetically improved crops are currently available. But the goal of making our environment free from the man-made chemical hazards is yet to reach. The present communication attempts to examine all the relevant information including policy level actions to identify the future works for combating the pesticide POPs . (viz., DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordane, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphane) imposed problems considering both holistic and reductionism approaches for ensuring sustainable development.