Author calls for Human Right ‘not to be poisoned’

A CALL for a new Human Right – the right not to be poisoned – will be made at the CleanUp 2015 conference in Melbourne today.

“This is a right that most of our ancestors enjoyed throughout history – but in the last two generations has been swept away by an avalanche of man-made toxins,” says Australian science writer Julian Cribb, author of the book Poisoned Planet (Allen&Unwin, 2014).

Mr Cribb says that every year human activities release more than 250 billion tonnes of substances into the Earth system in what is proving to be our largest impact on the planet – one that is five times greater in scale even than our greenhouse emissions.

“Official government records show there are now 144,000 man-made chemicals registered for use worldwide, with between 1000 and 2000 new ones released each year. Most of these have never been tested for human or environmental safety, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),” Mr Cribb says.

“Tests reveal that humans in most societies now carry a lifelong chemical burden, that unborn babies are being contaminated with industrial chemicals and that mothers’ milk in 68 countries is contaminated with pesticides and other noxious substances.

“The World Health Organization and UNEP have estimated that one in 12 humans now dies from environmental poisoning and around 86 million are maimed each year: this toll is greater than for HIV, malaria or car crashes. One in five cancer deaths – or nearly two million a year – are attributed to environmental exposure to carcinogens.

“Medical scientists are warning of a ‘silent pandemic’ of childhood brain disorders due to the global release of neurotoxins by human activity. Health officials caution that reproductive and hormonal disorders are on the rise worldwide.

Above all, health researchers are concerned at the impact of mixtures of thousands of different substances combined in the human diet and living environment, which they link to conditions including developmental disorders, sexual dysfunction (including sterility), nerve and brain diseases (including autism, depression, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s), cancers and heart disease.”

In his talk Mr Cribb explores new opportunities to reduce the toxic risks to humanity and life on Earth arising out of overuse and misuse of unsafe chemicals globally.

He will discuss ways in which social media is helping global consumers and citizens to become informed about chemical risks and how they in turn can encourage and incentivise industry to adopt green chemistry, cradle-to-cradle, clean-up, zero-waste and other enlightened technologies leading to a safer, healthier world.

Mr Cribb will propose ten recommendations for cleaning up the world, including a creation of a new human right ‘not to be poisoned’ under the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

He will present his paper “Cleansing a Poisoned Planet: chemicals, science communication and global people power” at 10.40 am on Monday, September 14 in Crown Conference Centre Meeting Room 13.

CleanUp 2015, the 6th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference, is being held at the Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne, from September 13-16, 2015. The program is at: http://www.crccare.com/files/dmfile/CleanUpConferenceProgram-03Sept15.pdf

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