Bucket and a Bag Reveal New Air Air Toxins

Armed with little more than a special bucket with two nozzles and a plastic bag, an entire community living near a Tamil Nadu industrial area has monitored air pollution and come up with startling data from across the nation that could become the basis of a campaign for change.

The Chennai-based community monitoring—its data was released in the capital today—found 45 hazardous chemicals in 21 air samples taken from 13 locations around the country between 2004-2006. Some toxins were present in levels 32,000 times more than US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) standards.

So far, India has standards for ambient air for more obvious pollutants like oxides of carbon and nitrogen. No standards exist for volatile organic compounds and sulphur gases although the Supreme Court’s monitoring panel has kept asking the Government to set the norms.

The “bucket study” began with six villages of Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district near the SIPCOT industrial area. Villagers used a device approved by the USEPA: A 25-litre bucket containing a three-litre Tedlar bag with a mechanism to inflate it.

Once inflated with an air sample, the bag is sealed and sent to a lab for analysis. Environmentalist Denny Larson, who helped develop the device, has worked to promote this new technology in several communities in the United States, Philippines and South Africa.

He founded the Global Community Monitor (GCM), a non-profit organisation formed to equip affected people with the tools and the knowledge necessary to fight pollution. In March 2004, Larson visited Cuddalore to share skills on the bucket sampling with the SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM). Between December 2003 and March 2004, GCM trained these monitors to take air samples using this bucket. The samples were then sent to a USEPA-certified lab in California for analysis.

Since then, 21 samples have been collected including nine from SIPCOT Cuddalore and 12 from various locations around the country ranging from industrial areas, landfills and municipal dumps in Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala and Mumbai.

“These are new-age chemicals and India is yet to set standards for them. This initiative is a welcome one. These communities can shout, scream and kick the authorities into action,’’ said Sunita Narain, releasing the report in the capital, who led the CNG campaign in the capital.

The key findings

• A total of 45 chemicals including 13 carcinogens were found like acetone, toluene, chloroform, Methyl chloride and Benzene. These chemicals target virtually every system in the body — eyes, central nervous system, skin and respiratory system,

• At least 28 of the 45 chemicals found violate USEPA screening levels

• Dichloroethane found in downwind sample from one PVC effluent plant in Mettur exceeded standards by 32,000 times.

•‘Industrial pollution regulation in the country focuses on stack monitoring but the toxins we found are from pipe leakages, pumps and by pass channels,’’ said Denny Larson of GCM.