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In addition to cancer, the reactor accident also contributed to non-cancer diseases and neuropsychological effects

04-11.12.2014

 

At the initiative and with the support of Green Cross Switzerland, a multi-year study was carried out to analyse the long-term effects of the Chernobyl reactor accident on mental and physical health. One of the reasons for this study was that even 28 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident possible health consequences other than cancer have not been investigated in sufficient depth. Also, the results of the research on the health effects are used as a basis for therapeutic interventions through the Green Cross Social and Medical Care programme to improve the quality of life of the affected population. Taking all exposure combinations into account, the authors of the Chernobyl study have come to the conclusion that a great many people have been affected, as many as 10 million according to the highest estimates.

 

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Best practices in the disposal of stored and buried pesticides

17.10.2014

 

An estimated more than one million tons of obsolete pesticides and related production waste are threatening the environment worldwide. Improper use and storage cause up to 98 percent of pesticides to leak into soil and water. Traces of pesticides are found in virtually any body of water today. What all POP (persistent organic pollutants) pesticides have in common is that they continue to be hazardous for decades and even centuries because degradation in the environment is very slow and they may have serious adverse health effects. Pesticides have been used in agriculture and to combat tropical diseases for many years. Time and again obsolete stocks were simply buried or taken to landfills. The Stockholm Convention, which took effect in 2004 and outlaws the most problematic POP pesticides, now endeavours to locate and safely dispose of these contaminated sites.

 

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Green Cross Educational Trip to Japan from 1 to 8 October 2014 offering insight into areas of radioactive contamination in Japan and how to cope with it

02.10.2014

 

In early October, Green Cross Switzerland will accompany an educational trip to Japan and explain the interventions and actions taken under its Social and Medical Care programme in the contaminated areas of Fukushima. The group will include members of the Parliament and government representatives from Brazil, Great Britain, Canada, and Switzerland who will take a first-hand look at the impact left by the Fukushima nuclear disaster on the country, the people and on energy policies. One of the stops on the itinerary is the contaminated city of Tomioka, which is divided into three different restricted zones. The group will meet with mothers who have initiated and established family clubs in the Fukushima Prefecture with the assistance of Green Cross.

 

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Green Cross Switzerland celebrates its 20th anniversary: Nuclear disarmament for an unburdened future

19.09.2014

 

For the last 20 years, Green Cross Switzerland has worked to overcome the consequences of industrial and military disasters through its Legacy and Social and Medical Care programmes. In specific terms, Green Cross Switzerland stands for a global phase-out of nuclear power and the environmentally friendly elimination of nuclear and chemical weapons through the Legacy programme. With a focus on nuclear weapon-free zones, round-table discussions are held on expanding the Non-Proliferation Treaty into a nuclear disarmament treaty, ending the existing approach to nuclear sharing.

 

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Chkalovsk pilot project leads the way for uranium mine clean-ups

07.04.2014

 

For more than 60 years, uranium was mined in several places in Tajikistan and the extracted ores were processed and concentrated. These activities have left a legacy of contaminated sites that have a negative effect on health and the environment. As part of a UNDP project to prioritise uranium-contaminated sites in Central Asia, Green Cross Switzerland decided to cooperate with the Zewo-certified Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD), Geneva, to clean up one of Tajikistan’s most critical mine dumps in Chkalovsk. The government of Tajikistan attaches great importance to the clean-up project at the former uranium processing plant in Chkalovsk, which is seen as leading the way for future clearances of sites contaminated by uranium mines.

 

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