A UN expert has warned that tens of millions of people are suffering strokes, cancers, respiratory problems and heart disease because of toxic contamination of the environment across the world.
David Boyd who is the special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, cited physical health issues, including cancer, heart disease, respiratory illness, strokes and reproductive health problems, as well as “incredible mental health problems associated with living in these places because people feel exploited, they feel stigmatised”.
In a report presented to the UN human rights council on Thursday, Boyd had said that pollution contributed to twice as many premature deaths as Covid-19 in the first 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic.
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The report showed that one in six deaths in the world involves diseases caused by pollution, three times more than deaths from Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined and 15 times more than from all wars, murders and other forms of violence.
Boyd noted that there are sacrifice zones all over the world, in every region: in the north, in the south, in the east, in the west, in rich countries, in poor countries, all of which infringed on human rights.
“Their rights to life, their rights to health, and … their right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. You cannot reconcile that fundamental right to a healthy environment with these horrific environmental conditions,” he said.
He maintained that while everyone was affected to some degree, some communities were being hit far more than others.
Boyd’s report warned that the toxification of planet Earth is intensifying, adding that even as some harmful chemicals are banned or abandoned, overall production of chemicals doubled between 2000 and 2017, and will double again by 2030.
“The United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, one of the wealthiest countries in all human history, is home to one of the worst sacrifice zones on the planet. This place, it’s called ‘cancer alley’, in Louisiana, where there are more than a hundred oil refineries, petrochemical plants, etc,” he said.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
