SAFE WATER ZONE
Inspired by the success of school and community led total sanitation programs which have made many communities open defecation free zones, ENPHO together with UN-HABITAT, the Coca Cola Company and local communities is working towards establishing safe water zones – communities, where all houses practice some method of point-of-use water treatment so as to ensure that the community as a whole is a safe water community. In this process three communities in Lalitpur have been declared as “Safe Water Zones” on 5 June and several other communities in Butwal, Bharatpur and Hetauda are heading in that direction. As the next step, ENPHO will work together with partners and local communities to establish SWASTHA (Safe Water, Air, Sanitation and Hygiene for All) communities where all people use toilets, wash hands with soap, use point-of-use water treatment and have systems to reduce indoor air pollution. The word “SAWSTHA” means “healthy” in Nepali. Therefore, SWASTHA zones will be communities where all the people are actively involved in minimizing all major environmental health risks at the household and community level. We look forward to your support in this process of establishing healthy homes and communities.
As the legend goes, once upon a time the Kathmandu Valley was filled with holy water. It is said that Saint Mahamanjushri from China came here, drained off the water by cutting the hill of Chovar and turned this valley into a settlement. But ironically, Kathmandu is now facing a severe water shortage.
Water plays a crucial role in lives of the Nepali people. Realizing the importance of water, the indigenous people of the Kathmandu Valley incorporated water management into their culture and gave it a special role in social life. But unfortunately, with rapid modernization, we have forgotten our heritage, traditional knowledge and skills related to water management.
Until Prime Minister Bir Shamshere brought piped water supply though Bir Dhara in 1891, water for all residents of the Kathmandu Valley was supplied from stone spouts, wells and rivers. At least since 10th century, people have been building wells and stone spouts in this valley and our ancestors have been utilizing and conserving water by making it a part of our religious, cultural and social life. By linking water with religion, people started constructing open rest houses and temples as well as water spouts, which helped develop an effective water supply system in the settlement areas. Royal families used to be active in having public stone spouts and ponds constructed in and around the cities. And to make them artistic and to raise religious value of water spouts or to give such places a religious look, images of gods and goddess used to be placed there. The Sundharas of Kathmandu and Patan are good examples of this tradition.
In this context, the festival of Sithinakhaa, which usually falls in the month of May/June, has both scientific and cultural significance. The festival, also known as Kumar Shasthi, falls before the beginning of the Monsoon season. At this time, the water level in wells and ponds are low thus making it easy for the people to climb down and clean them. So, the cleaning of wells and ponds has become not only hygienic but also a religious and cultural phenomenon. A religious belief is set that on this day, the snakes other aquatic creatures go for cultural event of Dewali and thus it is safe for the people to go and clean them to make the snakes happy. With this belief, the local community gets together to worship the local water sources and clean them.
However, despite the strong religious and cultural backing, these days people are slowly discontinuing the celebration of this important festival and in many areas and the young generation is ignorant about this festival. One among the reasons behind extinction of the traditional sources of water is people’s indifference to them after they start getting piped water at their homes. But it has become almost late to realize that neglecting our existing sources of water in the name of urbanization and development is our big mistake that we and our future generation will have to bear.
It is high time to revive the old culture and technology in today’s context. Celebrating the day of Sithinakhaa as a day of water optimization and sanitation could be a timely solution, both to conserve our culture and our water sources. We could solve the present crisis of water to a great extent by raising awareness on the need to conserve our water heritage and clean our water sources. We may not covert the valley back into a pond but we can certainly make it free from water shortage and obligation of waking up in the middle of night for a bucket or two of the water
- Prakash Amatya
NGO Forum for Water and Sanitation
:: ENPHO NEWS ::
“SWASHTHA” INCEPTION WORKSHOPS
ENPHO, together with Practical Action Nepal, Municipal Association of Nepal and local municipalities organized a series of inception workshops for SWASHTHA (Strengthening Water, Air, Sanitation and Hygiene Treasuring Health) project in Bharatpur (11 May), Butwal (18 May), Tikapur (25 May) and Guleria (26 May). The main objectives of the workshops were to discuss the project activities with all key stakeholders and select the project areas in a participatory manner. All four inception workshops had active participation of municipal officials and relevant NGOs, GOs, representatives from the selected communities, media and political representation. The project is being implemented with support from EU and UN-HABITAT.
SLTS CAMPAIGN IN CHITWAN
ENPHO, together with Practical Action Nepal and the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage has initiated School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) campaign in 10 schools of two VDCs (Patihani and Shardanagar) of Chitwan District. In this context a three-day training was organized for 29 teachers on 7-10 May. The training included presentations, field visit to three schools where SLTS has been implemented and preparation of action plans. This training was a follow-up of an earlier training given on 17-19 April to Principles, Head of Parents Teachers associations and School Management Committees of the 10 schools.
CLIMATE TALK
Bhushan Tuladhar, Executive Director of ENPHO, participated in a radio talk programme organized by Panos South Asia together with Anil Manandhar, Country Representative of WWF Nepal and Anne Isabelle, Country Director of UNDP Nepal on 14 May. The session discussed climate change in Nepal and Nepal’s response to this global challenge. To hear the complete discussion, please go the following link:
http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsadd/prsaarchives.php?id=14FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR SUSTAINABLE SANITATION IN GOKYO
ENPHO is conducting a feasibility study for introducing systems for sustainable sanitation in the Gokyo Lake region, which is located in the high mountain region near Everest. Gokyo is an important series of lakes located at an elevation of 4800 meters. There are eight lodges located around the main lake and there are concerns that waste and wastewater from the lodges may be contaminating the lake. ENPHO, in partnership with WWF Nepal, Sagarmatha National Park and the local community, is assessing the situation to initiate some pilot projects to manage the pollution from solid waste and wastewater in the area. In this context, a team from ENPHO visited the lake in the last week of May to assess the current situation and consult with the local people.
URINE APPLICATION RESEARCH & DISSEMINATION AT CHC
Since 2008 ENPHO in collaboration with Central Horticulture Center (CHC) has been conducting research on application of organic fertilizer, particularly human urine and vermi-compost, on agricultural productivity. For this research, ENPHO has already constructed wet ecosan toilets in two different areas both with drip irrigation systems in the CHC. The ecosan toilets have separate tanks to dilute urine before it is applied to the field through drip irrigation system.
This year, research will be carried out in the field using pot culture method. The required field has already been prepared with drip irrigation set up and pots. Field experiment has been prepared in Randomized Complete Block Design and Complete Randomized Design for pot culture. For the experiments, 30 feet by 20 feet plots has been prepared with 10 rows and 100 pots are used for pot culture. Five treatments will be applied for research purpose: a. Urine application; b. Vermi-compost & urine application; c. Chemical application; d. Vermi-compost application; and e. Controlled one. The time period of the study will be 9 months starting from March 2009.
INDOOR AIR MONITORING OF IMPROVED COOKING STOVES IN ILAM
As a part of follow up monitoring of Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) for Biomass Energy Support Program of AEPC/ESAP, ENPHO monitored indoor air quality of 17 households using two-pot-hole mud ICS. The monitoring was conducted after one year of use at households in Maabu village, Ilam. The indoor smoke monitoring includes measurement of Particulate Matter of aerodynamic size less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO). Besides smoke level measurement, health survey of ICS users and a cross sectional examination of lung function of ICS and traditional cooking stove (TCS) users was also conducted.
SOLVATTEN DRINKING WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL
SOLVATTEN is a new technology for point of use (POU) water treatment using sunlight. Last year, ENPHO, together with UNHABITAT had conducted a research study to assess the technical performance of SOLVATTEN in Nepal. ENPHO has now signed an agreement with Solvatten AB, Sweden to assess the social acceptance of the Solvatten at community level. The study will be carried out for six weeks in Imadole VDC, Lalitpur from mid-May to June 2009. Altogether 25 households, one public school in Imadole and one health center in Sitapaila, Kathmandu is selected for the study. In total 18 Solvatten units were distributed and local people were oriented on how to use it. The baseline information from the same households were also collected which focused on existing drinking water source, water treatment options used, cost for buying water etc. The research team from Sweden (Petra Wadstrom, David Wadstrom and Prem Gurung) visited Nepal from May 4 to 8, 2009 to launch this social acceptance study program, identify the mechanism on how to integrate this technology with the ongoing POU campaign in Nepal and also to discuss with potential stakeholders for possibility of further scaling up of Solvatten technology.
SAFE WATER AND HYGIENE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED
Water induced diseases like cholera, diarrhea and typhoid are common threat to people especially in the monsoon season. Taking this into consideration, ENPHO in coordination with the Department of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS), Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City and Guthi launched a public awareness program on safe water use and good hygiene practices on 28 May. On this occasion, organizers highlighted the importance of safe drinking water and good hygiene practices to prevent the spread of water borne diseases.
ENPHO CELEBRATES SITHINAKHA
On the occasion of “Sithinakhaa” ENPHO in collaboration with NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation and Guthi, organized a rally starting from Tudhikhel and ending at the same location on 29 May. The main objective of this rally was to promote safe drinking water options including Piyush (0.5% chlorine solution).
SOCIAL MARKETING OF PIYUSH
On 15 May, ENPHO made an agreement with Academy for Educational Development (AED) and N-MARC to increase the reach and access of Piyush and to promote the brand as a convenient, affordable and safe POU (point of use) drinking water treatment option to in-need target groups in Nepal. ENPHO achieved encouraging total target sales of 300,000 units of Piyush in the first year of the project on social marketing of Piyush. This second phase of the project also aims to pilot test the market for Piyush Plus and a new market segment for Piyush: the tourists along the trekking routes. Overall this project is expected to increase the sale of Piyush and make it sustainable so as to decrease epidemics of water borne diseases.
WATER QUALITY TESTING AND AWARENESS PROGRAMME
Water quality testing and awareness program on safe water, personal hygiene and water disinfection methods were conducted in Makawanpur and Parsa districts as per the request made by Chemonics International Inc., Kathmandu.
WATER TESTING IN KATHMANDU
ENPHO and Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) signed a contract in December 2008 for monitoring of raw water quality at the sources in the Kathmandu Valley. The project monitored physico-chemical and bacteriological water quality in over 90 sources which includes both deep wells and springs. Water quality of the sources will be tested twice during the project period. First phase of the testing has already been completed and the report submitted. The second round of monitoring will begin in the middle of June and end in August 2009.
PARTICIPATION/PRESENTATIONS
- Biju Dangol, Program Officer and Punu Duwal, Assistant Project Officer at ENPHO participated in a knowledge sharing meeting on “Hygiene Education for Men (HEM)” jointly organized by NEWAH and IRC, the Netherlands on 14 May. They shared their experiences on gender participation and challenges faced in community based water and sanitation project implemented by ENPHO.
- On 1 May, Bhushan Tuladhar, Executive Director, gave a presentation on decentralized approaches for improving Bagmati river environment at an interaction programme organized by Nepal Forum for Environmental Journalists and Bagmati Civilization Development Committee (BCDC). The chairman of BCDC expressed his keen interest in installing Decentralized Waste Water Treatment Systems (DEWATS).
- On 7 May, Bhushan Tuladhar, Executive Director, gave a presentation to local stakeholders in Sundarijal, which is the source area of Bagmati, on rain water harvesting and sustainable sanitation and total sanitation campaign. The programme was organized by National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and Bagmati Civilization Development Committee.
- On May 21 and 22, Bhushan Tuladhar participated in an Experts Group Meeting organized by the UN-HABITAT and WASTE in Gouda, the Netherlands, to initiate the process of drafting a report on Solid Waste Management in World Cities.
:: LOCAL NEWS ::
SPURIOUS BOTTLED WATER POSES THREAT
Sales of bottled water may have increased with more people becoming aware of health and hygiene recently, but spurious products sold in the market has made people more vulnerable to health risks than ever. Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), the only state-owned mechanism entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring quality of food products in the market has recently taken action against five different brands of bottled water for indulging in unscrupulous trade practices in the Valley. Research officer and spokesperson for the DFTQC, Purna Chandra Wosti, said, “These brands that sold spurious drinking water at the expense of public health had to be brought to book.” Wosti revealed that the Department had taken action against Ayush Beverage Company, Pashupati Spring Water, Balaji Mineral Water, Kantipur Mineral Water and Ichangu Drinking water in line with Food Act-1966.
“We found that the products manufactured by these companies did not meet the quality standard. Hence, we took action against the companies this week,” Wosti said. The Department has also asked the companies to stop marketing undrinkable bottled water with immediate effect. “We have directed the authorities to destroy the spurious products,” added Wosti. The Department has listed Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts under the top priority areas. Food inspectors have been deployed to ensure that safe food products are sold in the market. In some sampled water pH level and residual free chlorine were not found to have been met the standard. Ram Chandra Simkhada, secretary at Consumers’ Right Protection Forum blamed that the government was not doing enough to control unscrupulous trade practices. “The government needs to bring unscrupulous businessmen to book,” he said.
Source: The Himalayan Times, 5 MayNO TOILET, NO JOB
Staff of some organizations in Dolpa [Karnali Zone, western Nepal] will lose their job if they do not construct a toilet in their house by the end of this fiscal year in mid-July 2009. Staff working in Deprox Nepal decided to request the management not to extend the term of the staff who do not construct toilet within mid-July. Similarly, Decade Dolpa has also decided not to extend the term of the staff if they do not construct toilets by mid-July. Staffs working in these organizations have also agreed to the condition. Chief District Officer Dil Bahadur Ghimire has requested all the staff to construct toilets after the District Drinking Water Office requested all offices, schools and organizations to construct toilets to make the district an open defecation free zone. Less than 12 percent of the population in Dolpa uses a toilet.
Source: www.washasia.wordpress.com, 13 MayGAJAMAYA SHOWS WAY TO THIRSTY PADAMPUR
PADAMPUR, CHITWAN: A 50-year-old woman has inspired the water-deprived people of Padampur to dig wells. Gajamaya Tamang became the first to take advantage of a village development committee (VDC) offer of Rs 30,000 in grant for digging wells in the parched village and the villagers have been following suit after she succeeded in striking water. "We had to walk for half an hour for a pot of water. But now that we have dug a well with the VDC´s assistance, fetching drinking water has become easy," says Tamang, a resident of Padampur-3 Pipriya. The villagers offered to work for free and Tamang donated Rs 500 as the amount provided by the VDC proved not enough. The well has made life easier for 17 households in her locality and inspired other villagers to follow her example. "No one had turned up to take the money till last year. But after Gajamaya dug a well, 22 other wells are being dug in the village," village secretary Buddhi Prasad Lamichhane says. The VDC provides the amount, which has now been increased to 35,000, to consumer groups, and five of the 22 groups are led by women. Till 15 years ago the village, which was translocated from the middle of Chitwan National Park to the outskirts of the forest to the north of Ratnanagar, could be reached only after crossing the Rapti river. The newly settled villagers had difficulty finding drinking water. After a drinking water project failed, the 14,000 villagers were facing an acute scarcity of water. Water could not be found even after digging 30 feet, and no one dared to dig a well at his own expense. But once Gajamaya succeeded in finding after digging 36 feet, the villagers have been eager to emulate her. There is still a long way to go, though. As secretary Lamichhane says, even now hardly 15 percent of the villagers have easy access to drinking water.
Source: www.myrepublica.com, 9 MayAPA'S CLARION CALL TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
Apa Sherpa, on his 19th Everest ascent, urged the world to act against climate change.
Talking to media persons on Monday, Apa urged all concerned to save the fragile Himalayas. He unfurled a WWF banner with the slogan, 'Stop Climate Change-Let the Himalayas Live!", urging the world community to tackle climate change. Addressing the meet, James Leape, director general, WWF International, said, "Climate change is already wreaking havoc in the Himalayas. The glaciers are retreating across the range." "Some scientists predict the glaciers could be gone in just 25 years if climate change is not controlled. If that happens, it will threaten not only the lives of people and the rich biodiversity in the region, but also the development aspirations of hundreds of million people downstream," added Leape. Anil Manandhar, country representative, WWF Nepal, praised the efforts of Apa and Dawa Steven Sherpa for taking the message of climate change to the top of the world and being ambassadors for WWF's Climate for Life campaign. "Time has come for the world to redirect its attention to the Himalayas," said Manandhar. The expedition is a part of the Climate for Life campaign (www.climate4life.org) being led by WWF to raise awareness on the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. The expedition reminds world leaders of their responsibility towards the Himalayas as a global heritage and calls them to strike an effective deal to fight climate change at the Copenhagen Climate Summit this December.
Source: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com, 26 MayWATER SHORTAGE HITS LOCALS
The shortage of drinking water has displaced almost all the residents of Chharredanda village of the Belghari Village Development Committee. Chharredanda has now become a ghost town after all the inhabitants of the village have left their homes in search of drinking water. The villagers said that they left the village in search of drinking water after all the four water-wells in the village dried up due to searing summer temperature. About one hundred families of the 5, 6, 7 and 8 ward numbers have already shifted to the low lying places like Sisne, Jante, Dilamuni situated by the side of a river where water is available in plenty. Other residents of the village are planning to migrate to these places. Due to drinking water problem, half of the population of Chharredanda has already migrated to other places, Ambika Karki, a housewife, said. "From the month of Falgun to Asar, the residents of village face water scarcity and they leave the village for low-lying areas. We only return to the village after the start of rainy season because after the rainfall various water sources are filled with water," she said. "We have to walk five kilometers per day to fetch water. We are always in two minds whether the water collected should be given to the cattle or it should be kept for household uses. We are thus forced to leave our houses," she said. After the wells in the village go dry, carrying water from far-off places becomes the daily routine for the villagers, she added. Meanwhile, Charikot, the headquarters of Dolakaha district, east of Kathmandu, has been facing acute shortage of drinking water. The people living in the district headquarters have been hit by water crisis for long as the supply is not sufficient to meet the growing demands and the faulty distribution system. The hotel business in the town has also been hit hard due to the shortage of water. Dawa Sherpa, proprietor of the Chho Rolpa Hotel, said he has been paying Rs. 1,000 per drum of water for his hotel. Water is brought from Charange Khola, nearly 10 kilometres away from Charikot. The shortage of drinking water in Charikot has been further compounded by the increasing urbanization and population growth. The long drought and the deforestation has also taken its toll on the water supply as most of the water sources near the town have dried up.
Source: www.gorkhapatra.com.np, 1 MaySTUDENTS QUEUE UP TO DEFECATE
It is not a new issue to queue up for hours for drinking water in many places but it can be new for many that one has to stand in queue to defecate in the open place. Students [from] Bagh Devi Secondary School at Jyamdi of Kavre have to stand in queue for 10 to 15 minutes to defecate in the open. About 600 students study in the school but not a single toilet has been constructed in the school due to shortage of water. School principal Bhairav Thapa said, “We teach the students to defecate in the toilet but the students are compelled to use open space as toilet due to lack of toilet in the school.” The school has urged the District Education Office to construct toilets and Shanti Janaadarsha Sewa Kendra working in drinking water sector to construct a tank for collecting rainwater. [Because of the water shortage], the school [...] has appointed two staff just to fetch water for the school.
Source: www.washasia.wordpress.com, 8 May‘POISON’ IN DRINKING WATER
KASKI, May 9 - More than 3,000 households in Lekhnath Municipality, Kaski, were advised not to drink water distributed by a local water supply project after finding out that the water at the main reservoir contained a chemical used in killing fish. Lekhnath Small Town Drinking Water Project on Friday directed its consumers not to use the tap water after its officials detected that the water was contaminated. It is said that the contamination was detected after some dead fishes were found floating in the reservoir.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, 9 May
:: GLOBAL NEWS ::
'ANACONDA' HARNESSES WAVE POWER
A new wave energy device known as "Anaconda" is the latest idea to harness the power of the seas. Its inventors claim the key to its success lies in its simplicity: Anaconda is little more than a length of rubber tubing filled with water. Waves in the water create bulges along the tubing that travel along its length gathering energy. At the end of the tube, the surge of energy drives a turbine and generates electricity. The device is being developed by Checkmate Sea energy Ltd, which has been testing a small-scale 8m-long prototype in a wave tank in Gosport, Hampshire, owned by the science and technology company QinetiQ. "With Anaconda, we have an invention that changes conventional thinking and it can help to meet government targets for cutting CO2 by providing renewable wave energy from our coastal waters. It will also help cement the UK's world-leading position in this technology. The co-inventor of the device, Professor Rod Rainey of engineering design consultants Atkins, has been working in the field for several decades. Anaconda is non-mechanical. It is mainly rubber, a natural material with a natural resilience, and so has very few moving parts to maintain. It is claimed that a group of 50 full-size Anacondas - each 200m long - could provide electricity for 50,000 homes.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature, 5 MayBEIJING TO CONSERVE WATER THROUGH PRICING
Pressed for water resources, China’s capital is looking for alternative ways to aid its water supply. Cheng Jing, the head of Beijing’s water resources bureau, said on Sunday that Beijing would raise its water prices in an attempt to conserve water supplies this year, Reuters reported Monday. Beijing plans to limit its total water consumption to 3.58 billion cubic meters this year. The arid city –- located in water-stressed Northern China –- is already suffering from water scarcity due to growing industrialization, wasteful irrigation practices and pollution to its underground water supplies. But Beijing is now under even more pressure to conserve; after a project designed to divert one billion cubic meters of water a year to the capital was delayed. The plan to divert water from the Yangtze River and its tributaries was to be completed in 2010 but has been postponed until 2014 due to environmental considerations. According to the latest United Nations water report, China lists among the countries with the highest groundwater use in the world. It withdraws between 50 and 200 cubic kilometers annually. Beijing, which is located on a major aquifer, draws heavily on groundwater for its urban water supply.
Source: www.circleorblue.org/waternews, 11 MayGLOBAL: DIARRHOEA - DEADLY AND NEGLECTED, REPORT SAYS
DAKAR. The international aid system is contributing to millions of preventable child deaths by neglecting illnesses most deadly to under-five children such as diarrhoea, according to a report by the UK-based international non-profit Wateraid. In 'Fatal Neglect', Wateraid says the aid system must target resources to diseases that pose the greatest burden to a population, like diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation. Significantly more funding goes to fighting HIV and malaria - two other main killers of children - than to fighting diarrhoea, even though diarrhoea kills more children worldwide than HIV and malaria combined, according to Wateraid. The organisation says it does not imply that tackling diarrhoea should come at the expense of these other diseases. "Rather, this paper questions how and why the international aid system is overlooking one of the biggest killers of children." Henry Northover, Wateraid head of policy, told IRIN: "We need a system that analyses the disease burden and looks at the greatest causes of poor health. What we are seeing rather is a health system that focuses on the treatment of symptoms rather than causes." He added: "We are dealing with a blind spot in the donor community; they see getting sanitation right as an end piece of the development process rather than, as history shows, it serving as a critical driver of poverty eradication efforts." Wateraid and other health experts say safe water and sanitation are fundamental to health and poverty reduction. The report says disease-specific funding mechanisms can distort national health priorities. Rather Wateraid calls for "the health system to be strengthened in such a way that no critical determinant of child health [such as sanitation] can be neglected."
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a 'report card' on Millennium Development Goals (MDG) progress released on 21 May said 9 million under-five children died in 2007, down from an estimated 12.5 million in 1990, the year against which MDG progress is measured. WHO says: "However, in many African countries and in low-income countries generally, progress has been insufficient to reach the MDG target that aims for a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by the year 2015."
Source: IRIN News, 22 MayRICE MILK ARSENIC CONTAMINATION PROMPTS FOOD WATCHDOG WARNING FOR CHILDREN TO STOP DRINKING IT
By Sean Poulter, Daily Mail
Toddlers and young children should not be given rice milk because it exposes them to arsenic, parents have been told. The Food Standards Agency issued the warning after an official study of 60 rice milk products showed all contained traces of the poison. Such contamination is a known problem associated with past pesticide use on the fields in which the rice crop is grown. Levels found in the study were below the current legal limit, and deemed safe for adults. But children and toddlers are at greater risk because they drink more milk relative to their size. Arsenic is known as a poison but is also associated with the development of certain cancers. The current legal limit is being reviewed by the European Food Safety Authority. The FSA said: 'As a precaution, toddlers and young children between one and 4.5 years old should not have rice drinks as a replacement for cows' milk, breast milk, or infant formula.' But it stressed: 'There is no immediate risk to children who have been consuming rice drinks and it is unlikely there would have been any long-term harmful effects, but to reduce further exposure to arsenic parents should stop giving these drinks to toddlers and young children.' In 2007 Aberdeen University researchers flagged up problems of arsenic contamination in both rice and rice milk. They found that one in five samples of American long-grain rice in British shops contained potentially harmful levels of arsenic. Research leader Professor Andrew Meharg said the FSA now needs to look at arsenic contamination of other types of rice, particularly baby rice.
Source: http://www.dailymai l.co.uk, 22 MayAIR CONDITIONING IN CARS HELPS REDUCE MICROBES
HELSINKI: Air conditioning in cars cuts out more than 80 percent of germs, fungal spores and particles from outside air, providing a boon for people with respiratory problems or allergies, German scientists say. In a study released at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), a Hannover Medical School team monitored air quality in three cars between five and 10 years old that had been fitted with air conditioning. The microbiological quality of air showed "an enormous improvement," ranging from 80.5 to 88.7 percent, when the air conditioners were on, the researchers say. The scientists stress, though, that the test was carried out on cars whose air conditioners had been properly maintained and whose air filters had been changed regularly. The team recommends car users examine their air conditioning systems as soon as they smell any suspicious odour. The three cars were a 1998 Volkswagen Passat station wagon that had notched up 110,000 kilometers; a VW Polo FSI saloon, also called a sedan, built in 2003 which had travelled 10,000 kms; and a 1997 SEAT Alhambra van, with 175,000 kms on the clock. The research is to be released on Monday, the penultimate day of a four-day conference in Helsinki gathering more than 8,000 experts in virology and microbiology.
Source: The Himalayan Times, 18 May
:: THE RELATIVE NEGLECT ::
:: UPCOMING EVENTS ::
SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL WATER WEEK
Singapore, 22-26 June 2009Organized by: Singapore International Water Week Pte Ltd (a company set up
by Singapore's Ministry of the Environment & Water Resources and PUB,
Singapore's National Water Agency)Theme: “Sustainable Cities - Infrastructure and Technologies for Water”
Convention themes:
- Water technology solutions for today’s application;
- Managing water infrastructure;
- Water and health (developed with the World Health Organization (WHO) and
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA));- Planning for sustainable water solutions.
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