Judgement of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Karukampally Vijayan Biju Vs Union of India & Others dated 27/07/2017 regarding insecticide manufacturers are circumventing the mandatory requirement of obtaining prior Environmental Clearance before commencing their manufacturing activity.
Neonicotinoid insecticides are widespread in surface waters across the agriculturally intensive Midwestern United States. We report for the first time the presence of three neonicotinoids in finished drinking water and demonstrate their general persistence during conventional water treatment. Periodic tap water grab samples were collected at the University of Iowa over 7 weeks in 2016 (May–July) after maize/soy planting. Clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam were ubiquitously detected in finished water samples at concentrations ranging from 0.24 to 57.3 ng/L.
A combination of indoor spraying and use of insecticide-treated bed nets has slashed cases of malaria, but now researchers are reporting widespread resistance of mosquitoes to the chemicals used to kill them. Agricultural pesticides appear to be playing a role in fostering this resistance.
In Africa, a combination of better medicines and the widespread use of insecticides to kill mosquitoes has led to the decline in malaria cases and deaths. Millions of people in places like Dano are living longer, healthier lives because of this public health campaign. They are also more prosperous when they are malaria free, because the disease keeps kids home from school, prevents adults from working, and forces poor families to spend money on health care.
Mosquito-borne viruses threaten public health worldwide. When the ratio of competent vectors to susceptible humans is low enough, the virus’s basic reproductive number (R0) falls below 1.0 (each case generating, on average, <1.0 additional case) and the infection fades out from the population. Conventional mosquito control tactics, however, seldom yield R0 < 1.0.
The transmission of the arboviral agents of dengue, yellow fever, Chikungunya, and Zika by Aedes mosquitoes represents expanding threats to global health. At the 69th World Health Assembly, the WHO Director-General Margaret Chan declared that the spread of the Zika virus was "the result of the abandon of mosquito control" by governments since the 1970s and urged Member States to mobilize more efforts and resources to prevent further spread of the diseases.
