by Tricia Simon
From time immemorial, man has attempted to solve the conundrum of which came first, the chicken or the egg!
Well papa Joe, duh chickens have come home to roost and we as humans are bringing about the demise of our own environment by our industrial waste. Environment groups such as Grenada Green Group (G3) should not exist and I should not have to be writing no “Lizzie” column about the garbage which litter our beautiful shores in an attempt to clean up Grenada. Rather, locals and tourists alike should continue to enjoy our pristine locales such as the world-class, Grand Anse Beach in Pure Grenada.
Garbage is a global phenomenon and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a wonder of the world. Our ancestors produced the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World such as the Great Pyramid of Giza instead, we can showcase our garbage. When our future generation examines our actions what would they think, what legacy are we leaving for them?
The negative effects of industrial and household waste are said to be “increasing contamination leading to increased mortality, physical and morphological changes in the organisms/animals.” The reality is we need to act now.
Agriculture is known to produce a significant amount of industrial waste. “It was reported that agriculture annually produced five billion metric tons of biomass globally (Bharathiraja et al., 2017). The waste generated by agro-industries is rich in nutrients thus if left inadequately treated or untreated, it can serve as the breeding ground for pathogenic microorganisms (Ravindran et al., 2018). Agriculture waste is organic that includes spent grains, straw, molasses, bagasse, husk (maize, wheat, and rice), skin (avocado, banana), shell (groundnut, coconut, and walnut), crop stalks (cotton) and others (Sharma et al., 2020; Dai et al., 2018).”
The Current World Environment, an international research journal of environment science highlighted “the detrimental effects of industrial waste on natural resources. This review observed industrial waste have a substantial impact on natural resources, causing contamination of the air, water, and soil, alongside disruption of aquatic and forest ecology.”
The article, Hazardous waste and health impact: a systematic review of the scientific literature in regards to the negative effects on human health by industrial waste stated, “The association between 95 health outcomes (diseases and disorders) and residential exposure to hazardous waste sites was evaluated. Health effects of residential hazardous waste exposure, previously partially unrecognised, were highlighted. Sufficient evidence was found of associations between exposure to oil industry waste that releases high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide and acute symptoms. The evidence of causal relationship with hazardous waste was defined as limited for liver, bladder, breast and testis cancers, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, asthma, congenital anomalies overall and anomalies of the neural tube, urogenital, connective and musculoskeletal systems, low birth weight and pre-term birth. The evidence was defined as inadequate for the other health outcomes. The results, although not conclusive, provide indications that more effective public health policies on hazardous waste management are urgently needed. International, national and local authorities should oppose and eliminate poor, outdated and illegal practices of waste disposal, including illegal transboundary trade, and increase support regulation and its enforcement.”
All the experts are singing from the same playbook, thus as individuals, we need to act to protect the natural environment and our human health.
Tricia Simon is principal attorney-at-law at Tricia Simon Law Office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Simon & Associates in the State of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
