A Whale dies in Thailand after swallowing more than 80 Plastic Bags : Today is World Environment Day

Morning Health Talk :

New Delhi, June 5th,  2018

Environment health

In southern Thailand a whale has died after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags. Thailand’s veterinary team tried “to help stabilise its illness but finally the whale died” yesterday afternoon. Autopsy of the corpse revealed 80 plastic bags weighing up to eight kilograms (18 pounds) in the creature’s stomach.

A marine biologist said the bags had made it impossible for the whale to eat any nutritional food. “If you have 80 plastic bags in your stomach, you die (LatestLaws.com)

• Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that mimic or disrupt the action of naturally occurring hormones. Some of these substances have estrogenic effects or anti-androgenic effects, and may have effects on reproductive and developmental outcomes in human and wildlife populations. Studies are in progress looking at the effects of contaminants that leach from plastics such as bisphenol A and phthalates, commonly found in many consumer products.
• Use glass, stainless steel, ceramic, or wood to hold and store foods instead of plastics.
• Do not microwave food/beverages in plastic or use hard polycarbonate plastics (some water bottles/baby bottles/sippy cups) for hot liquids.
• Particularly avoid plastics marked 3 (PVC or vinyl), 6 (polystyrene foam), or 7 (other, can contain BPA) on the bottom, which are most likely to contain as bisphenol A and phthalates
• Phthalates, man-made chemicals, are used in soft, flexible plastics, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, and are found in medical devices, many consumer products, flooring, and a variety of personal care products (such as some shampoos and lotions). Phthalates also may be added to drugs and dietary supplements as an excipient (inactive ingredient that serves a function related to preparation, stability, delivery, etc
• There is “some concern” for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children at current human BPA exposures
• There is “negligible concern” that exposure of pregnant women to BPA would result in fetal or neonatal mortality, birth defects, or reduced birth weight; “negligible concern” for reproductive effects in non-occupational exposed adults; and “minimal concern” for workers exposed to higher levels in occupational settings.
• BPA is a monomer used to make hard, polycarbonate plastics, and some epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics are used in many hard sport water bottles, infant bottles, and some medical tubing and devices
• The primary route of exposure is through the diet, since BPA can migrate into food from food
• Accumulating data suggest that there is a relationship between environmental toxicants, such as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and phthalates, and allergy/asthma. These products have the potential to affect the development of the immune and respiratory systems, although the exact mechanisms are not well defined. d beverage containers

IMANDB Resolutions

1. The government policy of not allowing reuse of plastic costly cardiac disposables needs to be redressed on environmental pollution grounds also. They should be allowed to be recycled.
2. Every doctors must council his patients about medical insurance.
3. No cell phone should be allowed in operation theatre.
4. Light soothing music in OT rooms should be allowed.
5. Air purifiers can not be recommended at this stage in every room in a hospital.
6. Ignorance of law is not a defence in medical practice.
7. 11 crore people are covered in ESI medical insurance and 18 crore unorganised people are likely to get covered in it
8. Affordable healthcare means transparent, safe, quality and value for money health care
9. Filtered cigarettes does not reduce the risk of lung cancer
10. Air should be exhausted to the outdoors (where the droplet nuclei are diluted in the outdoor air), far removed from any intake vents, people, or animals (in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local regulations on environmental discharges). If recirculation to general ventilation is unavoidable, air must be passed through a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter installed in the exhaust ducts to remove infectious droplets from the air before it is returned to the general circulation

Legal

• UK Jails Indian origin man for claiming inflated Medical Compensation: Sandip Singh Atwal, a Disc Jockey (DJ) who exaggerated the effect of his relatively minor injuries in a bid to defraud National Health Service (NHS) of £800,000 (7.15 crore) has been jailed for three months. Atwal has been also asked to pay £75,000 (67 lakh) in the legal costs. (Source LatestLaws.com) (Ira Gupta)·
• A 29-day old baby died in Kerala last week a day after he was circumcised, reportedly due to heavy bleeding. The baby’s parents filed a complaint with a human rights group, alleging that their child passed away due to the doctor’s negligence.

Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
Vice President CMAAO
President HCFI