CropsTopsoil cut for bricks, kiln smoke and dust, and heavy metals building up in soil are lowering harvests; on the day the High Court ordered illegal kilns shut, News Bangla 24 brought the research together.
EnvironmentA Kentucky State University field trial found Georgia Flame hot peppers took up cadmium, nickel, copper and zinc from amended soils while metal levels in the fruit stayed below permissible limits.
FisheriesTwo studies found high levels of plastic particles in Sundarbans river water and silt, plastic in mud crabs' gills and guts, and lead, nickel and cadmium well above safe limits in three popular fish of the Pasur river.
Daily lifeThe US nonprofit Clean Label Project tested 100 products from 62 brands and found lead in 99 percent, cadmium in 96 percent and arsenic in 94 percent, with the weedkiller glyphosate in 37 percent.
Industrial and household waste has cut fish catches in canals around Pubail and Tongi and driven farmers to sell land; tests found lead up to 30 times and nickel six times safe limits, with three inspectors for 7,000 factories.
Factory waste, vessel oil and encroachment are wrecking Bangladesh's rivers; a study found heavy metals above WHO limits in Meghna fish, and families hit by erosion report more depression.
