August 16, 2017

The Minamata Convention, the world’s first legally binding global agreement to reduce mercury pollution, becomes International law on Wednesday, August 16^, 2017. In a joint press statement ESDO and Zero Mercury welcomes the new protocol.

“While there are alternatives to mercury, there are no alternatives to global cooperation,” said Michael Bender, coordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group. “Mercury respects no boundaries and exposes people everywhere,” said Dr.Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General of Environment and Social Development Organization-ESDO. In a press statement both expert express their concern on the convention implementation and said, “Only a global pact can curtail this dangerous neurotoxin.”

In October 2013 the convention text was adopted and signed by 128 countries, but would not take legal effect until at least 50 countries had ratified it formally.  This milestone was reached in May of this year, and the convention will enter into force on August 16 2017.

“We are now on the right track line.” said Elena Lymberidi-Settimo, Project Manager, European Environmental Bureau and ZMWG co- coordinator.  “Over time, the Convention is expected to provide the necessary technical and financial resources to reduce exposure risks worldwide. Governments must therefore move swiftly towards efficient implementation of the Treaty’s provisions”.

The aim of the Convention is “to protect the human health and the environment” from mercury releases.

The treaty holds critical obligations for Parties to ban new primary mercury mines while phasing out existing ones and also includes a ban on many common products and processes using mercury, measures to control releases, and a requirement for national plans to reduce mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.  In addition, it seeks to reduce trade, promote sound storage of mercury and its disposal, address contaminated sites and reduce exposure from this dangerous neurotoxin.

The First Conference of the Parties will take place from 24 to 29 September 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.  Over 1,000 delegates and around 50 ministers are expected to assemble in Geneva to celebrate and lay the groundwork for the treaty’s overall effectiveness.

The Minamata Convention joins 3 other UN conventions seeking to reduce impacts from chemicals and waste – the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

IPEN Urge World Govt. to ensure “no more Minamata”

In a press release, Environmental health leaders from IPEN (a global network of NGOs in over 100 countries combatting toxic pollutants) celebrate the historical global health and environmental treaty and call on world governments to take the next steps to ensure “no more Minamatas.”

The treaty, say IPEN leaders, is the beginning of the end of mercury in the global economy. But to actualize the aim of the treaty—protecting the health of current and future generations, food chains and the environment from mercury pollution— requires stronger coordinated global action. Ending mercury use and emissions at its primary sources such as small-scale gold mining, coal fired power plants and cement kilns and halting the global mercury trade are key. Identifying and remediating contaminated sites are also essential to protecting human health from the highly toxic metal.

The Minamata Convention, the first legally binding chemical treaty in a decade, recognizes that mercury is a global threat to human health, livelihood and the environment.  Currently 74 countries have ratified the treaty,exceeding the threshold of 50 countries that allows the treaty to enter into force.

“Mercury-contaminated sites have become a slow disaster in many countries, poisoning fish stocks and making communities sick. It is not enough to ban new industrial uses. To prevent mercury devastation for new generations, we need unified guidelines so that countries can identify and control risk from these sites and clean up communities where heavy mercury loads in the environment perpetuate harm to current and future generations,” said IPEN Mercury Policy Advisor, Dr. Lee Bell.

Use of mercury in gold mining and coal fired power plants are leading causes of mercury emissions on the planet. Small scale gold mining is an extremely hazardous process that sickens miners, their families and communities. According to the United Nations Environment Program, approximately 15 million people in over  70 countries engage in artisanal small scale gold mining (ASGM) activities for their livelihood, practices that mainly use mercury. Although declining, mercury from illicit sources have been and are still being used in many illegal small-scale gold mining practices.

“The tragedy of mercury causes profound health and economic impacts in some of the most impoverished communities around the world; communities that subsist through small scale gold mining. Unless we take global action to end the international mercury trade that dumps mercury into communities near gold mining sites, we will continue to poison some of the most vulnerable and marginalized people on our planet,” said IPEN lead for ASGM and Goldman Prize Winner YuyunIsmawati.

To protect residents from adverse health effects, countries must improve their mercury monitoring, health measures, and food advisories, and increase the capacity of health practitioners to understand and tackle issues related to mercury poisoning.

IPEN Co-Chair and Goldman Prize Winner Dr. Olga Speranskayasays, “Monitoring of mercury levels in food products must be improved. The majority of developing countries, and countries with economies in transition, do not issue recommendations to pregnant women on daily intake limits of mercury-containing food products such fish and rice, with dire consequences. Most developing countries lack limits for mercury levels in fish. Those that have established limits, often set them lower than relevant limits of developed countries, thus reducing the level of protection of their residents from the adverse health impacts of mercury.”

Just as the treaty itself emerged from the work of hundreds of NGOs around the world to raise the alarm on far-reaching mercury impacts, the NGO community is resolved to ensure the treaty is effective.

“Our community of global environmental health, justice, and human rights NGOs will continue to hold the world’s governments accountable to uphold the spirit and intent of the treaty, to encourage more countries to ratify, and to advocate for governments to take necessary actions so that this important agreement successfully protects the many millions of humans threatened by mercury,” said Pamela Miller, IPEN Co-Chair.

The historical treaty is named after the Minamata disaster in Japan in which industrial dumping of mercury into Minamata Bay killed and sickened tens of thousands of people.

Mercury exposure damages the nervous system, kidneys, and cardiovascular system. Developing organ systems, such as the fetal nervous system, are the most sensitive to the toxic effects of mercury, although nearly all organs are vulnerable. Human exposure to mercury occurs primarily through the consumption of contaminated fish and through direct contact with mercury vapor through small scale gold mining practices. Very small amounts of mercury, as little as 1 ppm measured in hair, has been recognized by the US EPA as a threshold above which mercury can cause brain damage in developing fetuses. New scientific literature is suggesting that mercury is even more harmful than previously understood, with negative neurological impacts noted at levels above 0.58 ppm.

Coal fired power plants, the second greatest source of mercury contamination and a primary contributor to climate change, release atmospheric mercury which deposits into the world’s oceans and enters the food chain, accumulating in fish and burdening human health.

August 9, 2017

Are you interested to enhance your skills and capacity at ESDO? Working  as an intern with us is very rewarding and it will give you great experience that is recognized!!! Environment and Social Development organization-ESDO offers Internship opportunity for youth both local and globally. So don’t hesitate to contact us now if you would like to join as intern.

Opportunities include:

• Project support (Mercury –Free Dentistry and Microplastic Pollution)
• Research and Documentation
• Advocacy and Policy Lobbying
• Media and communication
• Photography and Documentary Filming

We are looking for interns who are:

• Fresh graduate in BDS, Chemistry, Environment and Science discipline.
• Reliable and trust worthy
• Passionate about making a difference
• Prepared for taking challenging assignment
• Hardworking and committed

Steps to become an intern:

1. Please complete the application form for interns and send back to us within August 20, 2017. Email address is info@esdo.org. Application form is  available in our website www.esdo.org. or in this link ESDO Internship form
2. For further information, Call our head office on +880-2-9122729 or send email to info@esdo.org.

May 27, 2017

Dhaka, May 25, 2017: Use of  non-stick pots and pans on a daily basis, means exposure to hidden  dangers. Non- stick cookware is made using a carcinogenic chemical which starts emitting toxic fumes that one  inhale every time while cooking  with a non-stick pot!  Environment and Social Development Organization- ESDO disclosed these findings through their study report entitled, “Uses of Non-stick Utensils and Associated Health and Environmental Impacts”. Syed Marghub Murshed, former Secretary and Chairperson of  ESDO  launched the study report at the press briefing yesterday at its head office in Dhaka.

Non-Stick cookware is the name of one of those technologies, that make our daily life comfortable and easy. But it can act as a threat to our health and environment. Cooking in non-stick cookware allows food to get brown without sticking to the pan. It requires least amount of oil for cooking. According to the study, the non-stick surface is coated with Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commercially known as Teflon. When the cookware is over heated it releases Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOAs). PFOA has been labeled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogenic.

In response to question from journalist, Abu Jafor Mahmood, Superannuated Professor of Department of Chemistry, DU, said  “It is responsible for severe illness such as cancer, hormonal imbalance, birth defect in new babies, polymer fume fever in human and can kill birds. This toxic element is also released during manufacturing process and possesses risk to workers, especially female workers. Because female organs are vulnerable to this toxic element. It can be exposed to their body and cause harm to the babies through infecting the fetus”.

In Bangladesh, housewives, children and pet animals are becoming the greatest victim of  the poisonous gas release from it because of the increased use of non-stick cookware. According to ESDO’s recent survey, in Dhaka city, women of all ages are getting affected by this pollution. Among 450 women, about 421 are suffering from the problem of kidney and asthma. Among 378 women about 25 to 35 women are suffering from pregnancy related problem. Among children, about 310 are suffering from the problem of kidney and asthma. In case of households, (who  keep pet animals), according to the survey result , about 211 pet animals died with 6 months. This primary survey is showing this kind of destructive  picture, which is a threat to our future generation.

In a pursuit to make non-stick coating manufacturing safer, industry officials of developed countries have made pledges to limit the use of PFOA and eventually phase it out of all production methods. But, there is no initiative on this issue in Bangladesh. Ceramics and stainless steel are considered non-reactive and can be used as alternative to non-stick cook ware.

In response to question from a journalist, Syed Marghub Murshed said, toxic pollutant in non-stick cooking  utensils is a new phenomenon in Bangladesh but it can act as a serious health and environmental threat. He said that, we need to address this issue with high priority to protect our ecosystem, wildlife and human health.

Secretary General of ESDO and ecosystem expert Dr. Shahriar Hossain informed that,  non-stick cookware is not the main problem. Our main concern is the toxic chemical used to manufacture it. When toxic compound like Teflon is being used in non stick coating, it becomes a threat to both health and environment. Teflon releases toxic fumes while cooking. “Incineration of Teflon wastes produces different toxic gases like PFOA, Trifluroacetic acid (TFA), which get released into the atmosphere. PFOA and TFA  are very persistent, take  literally millions of years to biodegrade. All these toxic gases go into air, water, soil and pollute them. Water bodies near the manufacturing industries get readily polluted by the toxic discharges. High concentrations of TFA in water can be toxic to plants. When TFA enters the atmosphere, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) break down and it exits in rainwater. We cannot imagine that  how  long-term the  environmental impacts can be!”, he added.

Amongst other, Siddika Sultana, Executive Director, ESDO, were there to share their opinion about the importance of  regulation to limit the use of Teflon in manufacturing non-stick products.   Afrida Nazibah, researcher of this study, presented the findings and related information of the study at the event. ESDO urge the government of Bangladesh and the people to come forward and raise the voice to enactlegislation to phase out the use of Teflon in the manufacturing of non-stick cookware. They stressed for mass public awareness for  immediate ban of Teflon containing products, stop production, sale and import of them.

For More information,

Nishat Ferdousi

Program Associate (Media & Communication)

Phone: 01557019412

May 7, 2017

Dentists, dental professionals, Government representatives and environmental leaders urged  the Government for phasing out mercury from dentistry sector by 2018. Yesterday  at a workshop, they demanded to take immediate step regarding this issue. Bangladesh Dental Society(BDS) and Environment and Social Development Organization-ESDO in association with Asian Center for Environmental Health  organized this workshop entitled, “Mercury Free Dentistry: Way Forward”  at Four Seasons Restaurant, Dhanmondi at 12.00 pm.

The session was chaired by Syed Marghub Murshed, Former Secretary, People’s Republic of Bangladesh and Chairperson of  ESDO. Charles G Brown, head of the American National Counsel of Consumers for Dental Choice and President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, was the Special Guest of the program.

Mr. Charlie Brown, is the pioneer to address environmental and health risk by mercury dental amalgam and the key personality of the global campaign for “Mercury-Free Dentistry”. He is passionate about the Environmental health and welfare of the Bangladeshi people. He is  a graduate of Yale Law School. He was twice elected as the Attorney General of the state of West Virginia, and he has argued a case before the US Supreme Court. Mr. Brown

Experts in the meeting said, Dental amalgam is a filling material used to fill cavities caused by tooth decay. It is the known health risk for children, pregnant women, nursing infants and people with impaired kidney function. Due to mercury exposure from amalgam in the workplace, dentists, students, the technician and patients may suffer from the problems of elevated mercury level in blood. Amalgam pollutes air, water and soil via dental clinic release. Many alternatives such as glass ionomers, resin composites are now available.

In 2013, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)’s Intercessional Negotiating Committee formalized a global, legally-binding mercury treaty named “Minamata Convention on Mercury” which has now been signed by over 128 countries, including the U.S.  Bangladesh is signatory to the Minamata Convention.

“I urge the Government to implement law against the dental amalgam in order to protect mass health and environment from Mercury pollution” said Mr. Syed Marghub Murshed, Former Secretary, Govt. of Bangladesh and Chairperson of ESDO .

Amongst other Dr. Humayun Kabir Bulbul, Secretary General, BDS; Dr. A.K.M. Shariful Islam, Vice President, BDS; Dr. Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General; Siddika Sultana, Executive Director of ESDO; Executive members of BDS and dental professionals were present at the meeting.

At the end of the event, all the invited dental professionals, Government representetives expressed their willingness to work and assist ESDO and BDS to ensure mercury free dentistry and ultimately a mercury free environment.

January 29, 2017

Do you have time to volunteer your skills or enhance your skills and capacity at ESDO? Being a volunteer or intern with us is very rewarding and it will give you great experience that is recognized!!!

Environment and Social Development organization-ESDO offers Volunteer and Internship opportunity for youth both local and globally.

So don’t hesitate to contact us now if you would like to join as a volunteer or intern.

Opportunities include:

• Project support (Zero-waste village, eco-village, community based eco tourism, climate change adaptation, etc.)
• Chemical management (Electronic waste, mercury free dentistry, lead free paint, No POPs, No PCBs, etc.)
• Fund raising
• Research and Documentation
• Advocacy and Policy Lobbying
• Media and communication
• Photography and Documentary Filming

We are looking for volunteers or interns who are:

• Reliable and trust worthy
• Passionate about making a difference
• Prepared for taking challenging assignment
• Hardworking and committed

Steps to become a volunteer or intern:

1. Please complete the application form for volunteers or interns and send back to us within 15 February, 2017. Email address is info@esdo.org. Application forms are available in our website www.esdo.org. or in this link http://esdo.org/join-esdo-volunteer/
2.  For further information, Call our head office on +880-2-9122729 or send email to info@esdo.org.

October 17, 2016

15 October, 2016: Microbeads are being used as scrubbing and exfoliating agent in our personal care products such as face wash, scrub, and toothpaste replacing traditional and herbal scrubs. These microbeads are washed down from our bathroom to the water bodies.  Around 7928.02 billion microbeads go to the rivers, canals and other water bodies in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet cities in every month. Environment and Social Development Organization –ESDO published the study report entitled “Microbeads! Unfold Health Risk and Environmental Pollutant” which revealed the information about these health and environment threatening pollutants. Syed Marghub Murshed, former Secretary of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and Chairperson of ESDO disclosed the report in a press briefing yesterday in Dhaka.

 Mirobeads are plastic particles less than 1mm in size that can be spherical or irregular in shape and produced in a multitude of colors. The types of plastic most commonly used as microbeads are: polyethylene (PE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP).Sewage treatment plants are not equipped to remove particles that are small. Fish can confuse them as eggs or zooplankton and accidentally ingest them, which ultimately end up in human bodies. Microbeads being small in size have a large surface area by volume. As a result, they accumulate toxic contaminants. Consumption of these toxic chemicals may cause liver toxicity and disrupt the endocrine system. Microbeads in beauty products and toothpaste can be harmful to skin and teeth accordingly.

Alarming information was found that three major cities of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet city dwellers release a huge quantity of microbeads every month. 6628.46 billions of microbeads from Dhaka, 1087.18 billion of microbeads from Chittagong and 212.38 billion of microbeads from Sylhet city are dumped in to the water bodies and wetland. The huge microbeads content will highly cost the environment and human health by causing heart disease, type-2 diabetes, cancer, obesity in human body, small tears in skin leaving it vulnerable to bacteria and by accumulating toxic contaminants – persistent organic pollutants.

 ESDO team collected and analyzed 60 most popular and commonly used products from different areas of Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. Six categories of samples were collected, i.e. Detergent, face Wash, body wash, nail polish, toothpaste, face and body scrub and microbeads were separated from those samples. A questionnaire survey was done on 1800 people to determine the level of awareness among manufacturers and consumers. Among all the products, facewash are found to be mostly used by the consumers. About 95% consumers do not have any idea about the harmful impact of microbeads on health and environment. When they were given the idea of the fate of microbeads, half of them decided to switch from microbeads to safer, natural alternatives. When ESDO study team reached the retailers, they found that about 92% of the retailers are ignorant about this plastic pollutant but 40% said that they will remain conscious about selling those products. To know the level of pollution in water body, about 100 fish samples of 5 species (i.e, Catfish, Rui, Catla, Mrigal, Illish, Sarputi) were collected from the different water bodies of Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet and study findings show that larger fishes such as Rui are found to be more contaminated than smaller fishes such as Sarputi. On the other hand, fishes of Dhaka city were found to contain high content of microbeads and the fishes of Sylhet were found to contain least amount of microbeads in their body.

Read more

August 14, 2016

Dhaka: August 13, 2016: High level of toxic chemicals found in jewelleries in Bangladesh. Children’s jewellery found with high concentration of lead, cadmium and bromine, which is so alarming for human health and environment. A study report on “Toxic Jewellery: High Risk to Health and Environment in Bangladesh’’ disclosed the finding of the high exposure of lead, cadmium, bromine and others toxic compound in jewellery. Environment and Social Development Organization-ESDO conducted the study and Syed Marghub Murshed, former Secretary and Chairperson of  ESDO disclosed the result of the study through a press briefing today at its head office in Dhaka.

August 2, 2016

The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry has selected Dr. Shahriar Hossain of Dhaka to be its Executive Vice President. Dr. Hossain is a renowned NGO leader, ecologist and environmental journalist in Asia, working for environmental justice and governance more than two decades.

June 28, 2016

An Asian Workshop on ‘Successful Strategies to Phase down Amalgam Use towards Mercury Free Dentistry’ has been jointly organized by UNEP and UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP)  and World Alliance for Mercury Free Dentistry in collaboration with Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) and Asian Centre for Environmental Health (ACEH) in Bangkok, Thailand.

June 28, 2016

World Alliance for Mercury Free Dentistry  in collaboration with Asian Center for Environmental Health and ESDO organized an ‘Asian NGO Summit Towards Mercury-Free Dentistry: Successful Strategies to End Use of Dental Amalgam in Asia’ on 30 May, 2016 at UNEP Regional office for Asia and the Pacific in the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Bangkok, Thailand.

March 13, 2016

The United Nations and non-governmental organisations urged governments to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury, at the seventh session of the convention’s intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC7) being held in Jordan from March 10 to 15.

March 8, 2016

The seventh session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on mercury (INC 7) is going to be held from March 10 to 15, 2016 in Jordan. Regional consultations will be held on March 9 2016. Representatives of the partner countries of Asian Center are attending this session.

January 21, 2016

Dr. Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General, Environment and Social Development Organization- ESDO is participating, “Asia

December 20, 2015

Owing to the lack of regulation, the harmful use of Mercury reached alarming level in Bangladesh. As a result health risks and environment pollution has increased manifolds.

November 26, 2015

Consumers for Dental Choice has filed a new petition calling on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conform with the Minamata Convention on Mercury, says a press release. They were joined by other