Your pizza may come in toxic box

Studies in rich countries suggest presence of carcinogenic chemicals in human bodies by way of PFOS, the chemical used to manufacture those boxes, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: May 7, 2008, 02:20:14 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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Hot pizzas delivered to your home in a wrapper or a perforated box can contaminate your body. Studies in rich countries suggest presence of carcinogenic chemicals in human bodies by way of Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid also known as PFOS, the chemical used to manufacture those boxes.

From October this year, use of these chemicals for manufacturing these boxes or wrappers may become history under the Stockholm Convention, to which India is also a signatory. Frank Moser, in-charge of Stockholm Convention unit in United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), said five chemicals including PFOS have been identified for global ban under the convention.

“The final decision would be taken at a convention of parties meeting in October this year,” he told HT on Tuesday.

The US Environment Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board in 2006 classified PFOS as a likely human carcinogen. Animal studies also indicate that the chemicals affect the liver, neonatal development, the immune system, and hormone levels.

European Union and Mexico has already banned PFOS, where it is still in use in many developing countries.

Philippe R Scholtes, Representative and Regional Director of UNIDO, said in all five chemicals are on the list of persistant organic pollutants (POPs), considered non-biodegradable, for the ban including PFOS and some fire retardants.

“If the countries agree to the list India will have to ban used of PFOS,” he said. Then, the companies will have to look for environment friendly chemicals to manufacture boxes, which can keep your food warm.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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