TERI University, 10 Institutional Area, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070, India.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Darbari Seth Block, India Habitat Center, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003, India.
Sci Total Environ. 2014 Aug 15;490:733-47. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.043. Epub 2014 Jun 4.
India's rapid agro-economic growth has resulted into many environmental issues, especially related to chemical pollution. Environmental management and control of toxic chemicals have gained significant attention from policy makers, researchers, and enterprises in India. The present study reviews the policy and legal and non-regulatory schemes set in place in this country during the last decades to manage chemical risk and compares them with those in developed nations. India has a large and fragmented body of regulation to control and manage chemical pollution which appears to be ineffective in protecting environment and human health. The example of POPs contamination in India is proposed to support such a theory. Overlapping of jurisdictions and retrospectively approached environmental policy and risk management currently adopted in India are out of date and excluding Indian economy from the process of building and participating into new, environmentally-sustainable market spaces for chemical products. To address these issues, the introduction of a new integrated and scientifically-informed regulation and management scheme is recommended. Such scheme should acknowledge the principle of risk management rather than the current one based on risk acceptance. To this end, India should take advantage of the experience of recently introduced chemical management regulation in some developed nations.
印度农业经济的快速增长带来了许多环境问题，尤其是与化学污染相关的问题。在印度，环境管理者、研究人员和企业都十分关注有毒化学品的管理和控制。本研究回顾了过去几十年印度为管理化学风险而制定的政策、法律和非监管计划，并将其与发达国家的相关计划进行了比较。印度有大量分散的法规来控制和管理化学污染，但这些法规似乎在保护环境和人类健康方面效果不佳。印度持久性有机污染物污染的例子就是支持这种理论的证据。印度目前采用的管辖权重叠和回溯性环境政策和风险管理已经过时，这使得印度经济无法参与到建立和参与新的、环境可持续的化学产品市场的过程中。为了解决这些问题，建议引入新的综合的、有科学依据的法规和管理方案。该方案应承认风险管理原则，而不是当前基于风险接受的原则。为此，印度应该借鉴一些发达国家最近引入的化学管理法规的经验。
