Since the use of pesticides, particularly phenoxy herbicides (2,4-d, 2,4,5-t or 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, and mcpa or 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid) and organophosphate pesticides has increased over the last 40 years, the nci argues that they could have played a significant role in contributing to the rising incidence of nhl.

According to a book written by itrc’s N K Mehrotra, there are several pesticides which cause cancer of the lymphatic system in experimental animals (rats and mice).
    The general population can be exposed to pesticides in three ways:
through vector control
through residues in environment
through residues in food

This segment of population tends to have only a low-dose, chronic exposure, but larger doses can be transmitted if the exposure is persistent and bioaccumulative. Persistent pesticides move through air, soil and water, finding their way into living tissues where they can bioaccumulate up the food chain into human diets. Roughly 85-90 per cent of pesticides applied agriculturally never reach target organisms, but disperse through the air, soil and water. People who can be exposed to high levels of bioaccumulated pesticides include
habitual consumers of fish, livestock and dairy products;
foetuses and nursing infants whose mothers bodies have accumulated persistent pesticides; and,
sick people who metabolise their fatty tissues (which contain bioaccumulated pesticides) while ill.

People in Delhi have one of the highest levels of DDT in their body fat

According to an itrc survey of studies on pesticide residues, high levels of residues of bhc, lindane, heptachlor, endosulphan and dieldrin have been found in just about everything necessary for life from food to water.

List of suspects NHL implicated pesticides and their consumption in Indian agriculture (’93-94)

Nearly 40 per cent of pesticides consumed by our farms are possible causative agents of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

The list does not even include tea whose ddt residues are so high that Germany is refusing to import Indian tea.

How do these residue levels compare with residues in industrialised countries or with acceptable daily intake (adi) standards? Badly, at best. A report published in 1992 in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry by K Kannan and A Subramaniam concludes: “Significantly high levels of food contamination with hch, ddt, aldrin and dieldrin were evident throughout India...The average daily intake of hch and ddt...were higher than those observed in most of the developed nations. The dietary intakes of aldrin and dieldrin exceeded the acceptable daily intake recommended by who/fao....” Studies have shown that people in Delhi have one of the highest levels of ddt bioaccumulated in their body fat. Another study of 1991 on pesticide residues in Delhi by A Nair and M K K Pillai reports that ddt and hch residues were present in Delhi’s water, soil and fauna. Human breast milk samples in Delhi show ddt and hch levels comparable to those found in Punjab, an area of intensive farming. Infants ingesting this breast milk receive roughly 12 times the allowable daily intake of ddt.

Adding to the concern about carcinogenic effects of pesticides are the latest findings of a new discipline of science called immunotoxicity, which studies substances with a negative impact on the immune system. A recent review of over 100 primary experimental studies of immunosuppressive nature of pesticides reports that the large majority of these studies reveal various types of immunosuppressive effects. Reduced immunity influences cancer incidence. A weak or devastated immune system allows cancerous cells to escape and form a tumour. One can only imagine the kind of havoc pesticides can play in a country where a large percentage of the population is malnourished and, hence, suffers from immunodeficiency.

The maximum likelihood of exposure in my case is through food and water

Organic solvents and other industrial chemicals
According to nci, exposure to organic solvents also leads to increased risk of nhl. According to Shiela Zahm, “There is now a strong feeling amongst scientists that apart from pesticides, organic solvents play an important role.” Organic solvents are widely used in the paints industry, in dry-cleaning and woodcrafts, and large numbers of workers are potentially exposed to them. Among the solvents which are suspected carcinogens are chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents, methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, chloroform, formaldehyde and benzene. A Swedish study also lists styrene, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and chlorophenols as substances whose exposure heightens the risk of nhl. A British study shows heightened risk of nhl amongst those exposed to wood dust and expoxy glues.

Tenuous links On NHL’s associations with ailments like asthma

According to National Cancer Institute (US) scientists, “Weak associations (with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma or NHL) have been noted for some common (medical) conditions... like asthma, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, tuberculosis and infectious mononucleosis, and commonly taken steroidal drugs. Some conditions that warrant further investigation include asthma and steroid use.”     Steroids are known to be immunosuppressive; asthma too is an immune system disorder. Asthma — known to get exacerbated by air pollution — cases have been rising in many countries lately. In the US, 10 million people — four per cent of the total population — suffer from asthma. I have been an asthmatic for more than 30 years now and Delhi’s growing air pollution has definitely not helped much. Still, these are weak associations suggested by epidemiological studies, and US scientists continue to look for other major causes of increase in NHL.

Says Zahm, “The general population is also exposed to these carcinogens through commercial products and contamination of drinking water sources.” Enquiries in India conducted by researchers of cse reveal that no study of contamination of drinking water sources by these solvents has been conducted so far. Studies, however, have shown that the following solvents were present in effluents of the paint industry:
2,4,6-Trichlorophenol    Benzene
2,4-Dichlorophenol    Chloroform
2,4-Dinitrophenol    Methylene
4,6-Dinitro-o-cresol    Chloride
Pentachlorophenol    Trichloroethylene
Phenol
What is frightening is that not all these contaminants can be removed by existing wastewater treatment processes in India, thus leading to the contamination of natural water sources which ultimately provide us with drinking water.

Eco-mandarins: a no-show The MEF is non-functional as far as controlling hazardous pesticides is concerned

What does the baby of environmental concern — the much-hyped Union ministry of environment and forests (MEF) — do to protect human beings from harmful pesticides? Precious little, it seems. The ministry has neither restricted the use of hazardous pesticides and monitored pesticide-induced pollution nor studied the health or overall environmental impact of pesticides. The agriculture ministry is responsible for approving pesticides. The MEF, says a senior official, acts only if an accident were to occur in a pesticide firm, a la Union Carbide in Bhopal. Says R R Khan, the scientist in charge of MEF’s technical unit dealing with safety aspects of pesticide use, “We only have an advisory role. We offer advise to the ministry of agriculture regarding safe use of pesticides. We also conduct regular training programmes for pesticides industries as well as users.” Period. This is the state of environmental governance in India. If the ministry closed down tomorrow, it would make no difference to mine or your health. Then why should we pay taxes to this incompetent government?