Lead affects virtually every system in the body and is particularly harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of foetus and young children.

Common air pollutants, such as ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxides are associated with increased respiratory illnesses and symptoms, aggravation of asthma, and decreases in lung function in children.

Pesticides have been linked with certain cancers in children, including leukemia, sarcomas, and brain tumors. Pesticides have also been known to be harmful to the nervous system of experimental animals, and birth defect in children has been link to parent’s exposure to pesticides.

Environmental tobacco smoke contains some 4,000 substances, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals. Infants and young children whose parents smoke are at increased risk of respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis.

Children are at particular risk from drinking water contaminants, not only because they consume two and a half times more water than adults but also because federal standards for pollutants are set based on anticipated effects on adults.

Children of colour are the subgroup of children at greatest risk from environmental threats.

• Set quantifiable exposure – reduction targets and measures progress towards these goals.
• Increase the public’s right to know about children’s exposure to environmental hazards, thereby giving manufacturers an incentive to develop safer products.
• Revise existing federal (and state where applicable) regulatory standards establishing allowable levels of exposure to hazardous compounds in order to adequately incorporate children’s differential exposure and susceptibility.
• Improve risk assessment to take into account children’s unique vulnerabilities.
• Expand scientific research on children’s environmental health to better understand how known hazards affect children and to identify new threats as they emerge.
• Evaluate community efforts to protect children from environmental threats because there are many important local-based measures that can be taken.

As the attention shifts to the more subtle and long-term effects of pesticide use, endocrine disruption has recently become all the rage. Endocrine disrupters have many different effects: on sexual development, male fertility, female reproduction, cancer (such as, breast, prostate and testicular cancer), endometriosis (a painful disease affecting the uterus), immune system, goiter, hyperactivity and learning disorders. This book includes information on 67 chemicals, many of them pesticides. Each entry includes a short summary of the evidence for describing a substance as an endocrine disrupter. It also gives physical and chemical properties and information on regulations in the U.S. The majority of the information is extracted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). This book provides a very handy guide to the key toxicological data on these chemicals. Very useful as well, is the present regulatory status, including acceptable levels in the U.S. The CD-ROM version provides powerful search possibilities, so that for example, you could easily find out which chemical causes prostate cancer.

This report represents the views of the joint meeting of the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide Residues in Food and the Environment, and the WHO Core Assessment Group held in September 1995. This meeting reviewed 17 pesticides, three for the first time. Also for the first time, there are environmental evaluations of 5 pesticides. These papers provide a detailed review of the toxicology of the pesticides from which acceptable daily intakes are developed and maximum pesticide residue levels established.

This latest publication in the series of evaluations continues to be a key reference for those interested in the health impacts of pesticides. The addition of environmental evaluations is welcomed. This indicates that the international community has recognised the importance of also considering potential impact on the environment when making decisions on pesticide use.

After years of attempts to eradicate malaria and other endemic diseases, there is a change in paradigm. Vector control is now depending less on large-scale government programmes and more on community participation at the local level. This book attempts to guide the non-specialist by describing methods that are suitable for self-protection by individuals and communities.

The book discusses control of mosquitoes, black and other small flies, house flies, tsetse flies, triatomine bugs (vector for Chagas disease), bedbugs, lice, ticks, mites, cockroaches, water fleas (vector for guinea-worm disease), and snails (vector for schistosomiasis). The suggested approaches are generally low-cost, simple to implement and are safe for the user and the environment. These require limited involvement of national health services. One chapter discusses house spraying using residual pesticides.

This book will become a key reference for anyone interested in vector control and the reduced reliance on pesticides. With a world-wide ban on the use of DDT being negotiated under the convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), a key concern of governments is its effective replacement. It is unfortunate that this otherwise useful book does not address alternatives to indoor use of DDT in more detail.

The FAO/WHO Report has major inadequacies in safety regulation of GE foods, basically designed to speed up product approval with disregard for biosafety. The vague ‘principle of substantial equivalence’ is misleading and open to interpretation. A GE product assessed to be substantially equivalent (SE) is regarded as safe for human consumption, although SE does not mean an equivalence of the unengineered plant or animal variety. The undiscriminating tests allow toxins and allergens to escape undetected.

Major areas of GE food safety, such as labelling, monitoring, and impacts on biodiversity, among others, have been left out, while scientific findings to prove the possibility of new viruses being generated were completely ignored. This Report maintains that there is no difference between genetic engineering and conventional breeding methods, and makes unsubstantiated claims for its (GE) benefits while ignoring the socio-economic impacts on small farmers. The authors conclude with 13 recommendations to safeguard the health of consumers and to protect biodiversity.

Available from: Third World Network, 228 Macalister Road, 10400 Penang, Malaysia. Price not given.

This pro-Genetic Engineering book describes in great detail how the genetic manipulation of plants has allowed crop breeders to produce crop with desirable characteristics.

It explains how these new techniques offer new opportunities such as the ability to develop crop with higher potential yields, that better withstand the climatic and chemical stresses of the environment and especially, crops with enhanced resistance to pests and pathogens.This book also gives details of the progress achieved by genetic manipulation in Northern Europe.

This book looks at the patenting of life, one of the hottest issues of this century. As indigenous communities are being increasingly involved in market economies, they are seeing more of their resources traded in those markets. It has been suggested that if corporations can obtain IPR protection for their "inventions", then indigenous peoples should be entitled to IPR protection too. But many indigenous peoples are questioning this approach, as the privatisation of traditional knowledge and biogenetic resources is quite alien to them. Moreover, even if IPR protection was fully applied to these entities, it would still not be a suitable mechanism for strengthening and empowering indigenous communities.

"Where there is commercial value, there are profits to be made" - the authors respond to this by offering advise on how indigenous communities around the globe could deal with the issues of intellectual property rights (IPR) and traditional resource rights (TRR).

It is quite apparent that the earth cannot sustain the current capitalist model of economic development. Yet, business leaders continue to push for high growth and deregulation, offering ‘eco-efficiency’ in return. For Welford et al. such attempts are ineffective because they fail to address the inherent tension between modern capitalism and sustainable development. The collection of essays condemns the business community for its failure to offer viable and sincere solutions and argues that only more ‘radical’ economic models can properly address our urgent environmental problems. It challenges business leaders and policy-makers with a number of models for sustainable development that they can adapt if they are truly concerned with long-term sustainability.

This book offers no easy solutions; meaningful change involves a reversal of the current hierarchical system and mentality and the development of an entirely new relationship with the earth. This means greater equity and equality in society and in the workplace, a broad-based decision-making process, much more diversity and transparency, and the revival of spirituality.

Despite the hardship and potential catastrophes that such a massive dam will bring, Chinese authorities are pushing ahead with a dangerous disdain for all criticism. Dai Qing is one of the most vocal opponents of the dam from inside China. She is a journalist who spent a year in jail for her criticism of the project in a previous book. Most of her research for this collection comes from discussions with scientists, hydrologists, environmentalists, and engineers from within China and some from within the Ministry of Water Resources.

The collection reveals a nation in the midst of "uncontrolled development, where a sense of moderation and restraint are completely absent." Modern China, like so many parts of the world, has suffered numerous dam disasters, but large-scale dams continue to be built. Dai Qing shows the reader how this foolish pursuit is the result of a web of political and economic ambitions sustained by the Chinese system and a blind faith in technology. The collection pulls apart the official line and provides a more realistic, yet much more terrifying portrait of the Three Gorges Dam Project.

In most parts of the developing world, rural people maintain trees in fields and around their homes in order to provide food, fuel, and a variety of other locally important goods and services. However, until recently this extensive resource has attracted limited attention, and little has been known about smallholder tree management practices. Farms, Trees and Farmers documents major advances in our knowledge of the economic and social role of trees, and how this role has changed with the intensification of agriculture.

Detailed case studies of tree management on farms in South Asia and Eastern Africa are accompanied by analysis of the relationship of tree management to subsistence needs, market opportunities and constraints, availability and allocation of land, labour and capital, and exposure to risk and risk management. The authors argue that earlier failures to understand farmers incentives and disincentives have resulted in ineffective policies, and identify ways in which these could be strengthened.

This work is recommended for students, trainers, as well as planners, managers and practitioners within government and NGO projects.

More locally controlled and managed approaches are needed. Over the past decade, farmers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments and donors throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America have been experimenting with a range of approaches to extension. These approaches promote farmers and other rural people as the principal agents of change in their communities. Because the recommended technologies and approaches are determined locally, they can be adapted to suit particular needs in the village.

This book on farmer-led extension, draws on the experiences of over 70 farmers, community workers, NGO staff, researchers and policy makers from throughout the world. It serves as an invaluable introduction to farmer-led approaches, as well as a mine of ideas for extension managers and project staff seeking to promote agricultural development.

This is the report of field research conducted in the mainly rainfed lowlands of Southern Lombok, an island east of Bali, Indonesia, from 1990-1993. In general, off-farms employment was found to strengthen agriculture. Income derived from off-farm activity is reinvested in farming, enabling households to select the most productive and profitable production systems bearing the lowest risk. Without off-farm activity, farming households are forced to apply productive and less profitable systems.

The author recommends that promotion and support of the off-farm sector go hand-in-hand with agricultural development.

This book gives details on the agricultural economic situation of each individual country: China, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It highlights the potential for sales of agrochemical products by giving details on agricultural policies, products, arable/permanently cropped land as well as common pests. This report also provides a summary of the activities of the main companies involved in the agrochemical sector in the region.

This book is aimed for businesses, researchers, economists, agriculturists, policy makers, etc., who are interested to know the market potential and political influence in the region.

"Politicians and the media use the phrase free trade to conjure up images of prosperous third world farmers, content in the knowledge that their governments have secured profitable overseas markets for their precious harvests. The reality of "free trade" for many Mexicans is neither free nor fair." It is on this note that the Agrow reports starts the review of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

It analyses the agricultural and crop protection market potential of each of Canada, Mexico and United States. It explains the effort taken to harmonise the non-tariff barriers which are still limiting the free movement of goods and services. The last important aspect touched is the agrochemical industry activities within the member countries.

The author concludes that the agricultural sector will need to change to meet the altered reality under NAFTA. The final impact will not be known for a number of years, but only in Mexico is there likely to be growth in agrochemical sales.

People’s Republic of China (PRC) is already the second largest producer of agrochemicals in the world and is set to become the world’s largest market for such products. The Agrow report starts with a general introduction on China. It then reviews the agriculture sector, pesticide market, domestic agrochemical industry and overseas investment in the sector. In outlines the investment potential in the agrochemical sector and provides a short summary on Chinese pesticide manufacturers.

The report provides a succinct overview of an important country. Though the chief audience for the report is the chemical industry and industrial policy makers, it is useful for all who are interested in the trends of agrochemical productions.

Available from: Agrow Report, 18/20 Hill Rise Richmond, Surrey, TW1O 6UA, UK. E-mail: cown@repsinfo.demon.co.uk. Price £395.00.

This book is a comprehensive reference on how to control weeds. It is aimed at pesticide users in the United States. It gives more than 100 photos to help identify the types. Through this identification process, the type of pesticide can be chosen. The book provides a summary of the herbicide registered for use on particular crops in the United States and weeds against which they are effective. The readers are provided with current trends for each crop (e.g., field corn, soybeans, cotton) and reminders on good practice that will minimise weed growth.

In addition, information on regulatory compliance on using pesticides such as protective clothing, workers protection standard and formulation guidelines are provided. This book also provides a cross reference directory which gives the names of manufacturers, their contact addresses and numbers.

The pesticides section provides information on products registered in the United States, their use, health and safety warnings. Summary information is also given for biological control agents for pests or disease resistance and herbicide tolerance. The handbook is most helpful for providing summarised information on specific products and trade names in the United States.