CSE research shows a high level of pesticide contamination in carrion eaten by vultures. It could be leading to their extinction. And because humans are at the same end of the food chain as vultures, their fate will soon be ours

At a public meeting organised by the Centre for Science and Environment today, Asad Rahmani, director of the Bombay Natural History Society, put forward research confirming that vulture populations in India were on a drastic decline.

Following Rahmani’s startling revelation that vulture numbers had declined from 2000 in the 1980s to four in 1998 in Bharatpur, CSE collected samples of carrion to test if the vultures were dying because of their food. "Tests conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) confirmed that the samples contained high levels of chemical pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (ddt), hexachloro cyclohexane (hch) and dieldrin," CSE toxicologist Amit Nair, revealed at the meeting.

Subsequent samples collected from Delhi showed DDT levels of as much as 0.632 parts per million (ppm). hch levles were found to be even higher -- 0.839ppm in buffalo carcasses and 1.071ppm in pig carcasses. Among the various forms of hch, the most toxic forms, alpha-hch and beta-hch, were found to be higher than the other forms.

"Vultures are on the same food chain as humans," Anil Agarwal, director, Centre for Science and Environment pointed out. "We depend on the same species as the vulture for diary and meat products, and are probably accumulating the same toxins in our bodies." Though studies on impacts of pesticides on birds are almost non-existent in India, research conducted in West has revealed that these chemicals disrupt reproductive, developmental and hormonal functions severely in birds, leading to thinner egg shells and erratic mating patterns.

Several studies, including one conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research in 1993, have found alarmingly high levels of ddt, hch and other extremely toxic pesticides in vegetables, fruits and milk in Delhi and other states such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. The average daily diet of an Indian today contains 0.27mg of ddt. Not even infants are safe: 25 Delhi women have tested positive for pesticides such as ddt, bhc, dieldrin and aldrin in their breast milk and maternal serum.

ddt, dieldrin, aldrin and hch are organochlorine pesticides, which can affect reproductive, developmental, hormonal and immunological functions once they enter the human body. They often mimic and/or interfere with male and female hormones, thus modifying development and reproduction. They do not disintegrate and remain active in the environment for hundreds of years.

Though ddt and several other persistent organochlorine pesticides have been banned in the West, they still pose a serious threat in the developing world. India, for instance, continues to use ddt in its health programmes. Between 1995 and 1996, some 9,000 tonnes of ddt were supplied to the state governments by the National Malaria Eradication Programme.

India’s apathetic administration is yet to wake up to the pesticide threat. At the meeting, Agarwal expressed concern about the inadequate investments in science for ecological security in India. "Very little scientific investments are being made to help us to keep track of country’s environmental changes so that we know what are the danger points and take appropriate action," he said.

India has been one of the leading developing countries in the world for developing science to meet national goals. One of the first efforts was to make scientific investments in energy security by investing in the Department of Atomic Energy. Later in the 1960s, when the country began to face hunger and famine, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research was strengthened to ensure that science was providing support for the country’s food security.

"But over the years there has been no move to invest in science to support ecological security, health security and social security," said Agarwal.

Note: For further information, please contact Priti Kumar or Amit Nair at the Health and Environment Unit, Centre for Science and Environment.
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