Campaign vs furans, dioxins on

The Department of Science and Technology’s Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) have just concluded their first national workshop to solve the air pollution problem posed by dioxins and furans.

According to Dr. Christopher Silverio, ITDI environmental division chief, dioxins and furans are "unintentional contaminants found in the air we breathe as a result of the burning of materials with chloride components."

Various scientific studies have identified these toxins as factors causing various deformities in humans and animals that inhale or imbibe these toxins from the water they drink and the food they eat.

Among the malformations blamed on dioxins and furans is severe hypospadia – a deformity characterized by an enlarged penis head, the lack of a urethral opening at the tip of the penis, deformity in sperm cells produced by males exposed to these toxins; and cryptorchidism or undescended testicles.

Dr. Zenaida Batac-Catalan, a researcher who has extensively studied the effects of dioxins and furans in the Laguna de Bay and Davao areas, cited the case of a 12-year-old boy in Bukidnon, Mindanao whose mother was regularly exposed to dioxins. This boy developed both testicular and ovarian tissues as well as cryptorchidism and severe hypospadia.

The workshop also focused on the victims of these contaminants, particularly the documented cases of banana plantation workers who were exposed to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs).

These plantation workers were mostly employees of large fruit plantations in Mindanao. They suffered from a type of sterility known as germinal cell aplasia, wherein the body has stopped producing sperm due to heavy exposure to pesticides that were supposed to kill worms that attacked banana plants.

Recognizing the dire environmental and genetic impact caused by dioxins and furans, the ITDI and UNEP are focusing on formulating a national survey that involves multisectoral groups and a substantial database that will help arrest further proliferation of these toxins.

Incineration

The ITDI-UNEP program will be implemented over one and a half years and is designed to compliment the Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic Act 8749), which strictly prohibits the use of incinerators as a means of burning waste material. Incinerators are tagged as the main producers of compounds such as dioxins and furans and other harmful pollutants.

Silverio said, "This is one of ITDI’s programs… we are seeking the reduction of dioxins by finding alternative materials to those (containing chlorine) currently being used by industries. (We also would like to see) industries set up technologies which would absorb toxic substances to reduce or totally eliminate these pollutants."

Dialogues and discussions with sectoral groups in the cement, plastic and power industries are part of these agencies’ massive efforts to inform and educate the industries to shift from raw materials containing pollutants to alternative means that will reduce or eliminate the production and spread of dioxins and furans.

Visiting German lecturer Dr. Heidelore Fiedler, UNEP senior affairs officer, said she sees the involvement of both the ITDI and UNEP as a "giant step in affirming that the program has a chance of being a success with the confirmation of DOST-ITDI to me that they have good relations with the industries and (that these) industries are willing to cooperate. I find them more cooperative in terms of data output much more than in the industrial countries."

The ITDI and UNEP believe that the creation of proper legislation and its implementation coupled with the cooperation of the sectors involved are the key to saving the environment and providing healthier conditions for the people. — S&T Media Service