With respect to climate change, she noted that weather events caused “[e]xtreme by climate change can create vicious circles by increasingly forcing persons living in extreme poverty to over-exploit natural resources as a coping mechanism to ensure survival.” Toxic Wastes. The Special Rapporteurs on toxic waste have made many statements on the effects of hazardous and toxic substances on human rights. For example, the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste from 2004 to 2010, Okechukwu Ibeanu, stated, “Toxic chemicals may constitute serious threats to human rights, the most serious being the right to life of the 47,000 persons estimated by WHO to die every year as a result of poisoning from chemicals explained that exposure to toxic chemicals can occur in various like pesticides.” He ways, including: exposure to everyday household and food products; exposure arising from employment in particular sectors (e.g., agricultural or the mining sector); exposure to chemicals in the disposal phase (e.g., electronic products and end-of-life ships); and exposure as a result of an accident (e.g., a leak from a pesticide plant). According to Calin Georgescu, the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste from 2010 to 2012, pathological waste, a type of infectious waste, can also pose a threat to the right to life through its potential to transmit life-threatening diseases, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), viral hepatitis, typhoid fever, meningitis, and rabies. Georgescu explained that waste, including anatomical waste, is often incinerated, there are several although “pathological reports of illegal disposal together with non-hazardous municipal waste or illegal dumping in many regions of the world.” The Special Rapporteur further highlighted that the improper handling or disposal of hazardous medical waste can result in death, permanent or temporary disability, or injury. He cited a specific case in 1988 where four people died from acute radiation syndrome following the
With respect to climate change, she noted that “[e]xtreme weather events caused by climate change can create vicious circles by increasingly forcing persons living in extreme poverty to over-exploit natural resources as a coping mechanism to ensure survival.” Toxic Wastes. The Special Rapporteurs on toxic waste have made many statements on the effects of hazardous and toxic substances on human rights. For example, the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste from 2004 to 2010, Okechukwu Ibeanu, stated, “Toxic chemicals may constitute serious threats to human rights, the most serious being the right to life of the 47,000 persons estimated by WHO to die every year as a result of poisoning from chemicals like pesticides.” He explained that exposure to toxic chemicals can occur in various ways, including: exposure to everyday household and food products; exposure arising from employment in particular sectors (e.g., agricultural or the mining sector); exposure to chemicals in the disposal phase (e.g., electronic products and end-of-life ships); and exposure as a result of an accident (e.g., a leak from a pesticide plant). According to Calin Georgescu, the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste from 2010 to 2012, pathological waste, a type of infectious waste, can also pose a threat to the right to life through its potential to transmit life-threatening diseases, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), viral hepatitis, typhoid fever, meningitis, and rabies. Georgescu explained that although “pathological waste, including anatomical waste, is often incinerated, there are several reports of illegal disposal together with non-hazardous municipal waste or illegal dumping in many regions of the world.” The Special Rapporteur further highlighted that the improper handling or disposal of hazardous medical waste can result in death, permanent or temporary disability, or injury. He cited a specific case in 1988 where four people died from acute radiation syndrome following the
7.SpecialProceduresReport14August-2014.docx