News

EARTH REPORT 16 September 2022

Arnika Association brought Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH) team to visit the Dioxin laboratory of the State Veterinary Institute Prague (@Státní veterinární ústav Praha) in Prague, Czech Republic. 

Ing. Jan Rosmus, Head of the Department of Chemistry and Deputy Directory of the institute brought the team around the Dioxin lab, all the while describing the equipment and processes conducted in the institute. These included Gas chromatography – mass spectrometer or GC-MS, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry or ICP-MS and various other equipment. This allowed EARTH team to better comprehend the process of testing for “Persistent Organic Pollutants” or #POPs, a class of pollutants still found in the environment in #Thailand today.

PRESS RELEASE: 15 September 2022 

PRAGUE/JAKARTA/BANGKOK – The international BioDetectors conference took place in Prague on 13-14 September and was attended by experts worldwide. They can use analytical methods to measure the effect of dangerous substances’ “toxic cocktail” on human cells. Organizations from the Global South can also point out specific risks and advocate for more stringent protection of local populations from toxic pollution, thanks to cooperation with European laboratories.

EARTH REPORT 14 September 2022 

EARTH - Thailand presents citizen science project in Thailand at BioDetectors Conference in Prague, Czech Republic

Akarapon Teebthaisong, Research and Technical Officer from Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), presented a study entitled “Citizen Science Projects in Thailand”, at the 13th BioDetectors Conference 2022, which was held between 13th – 14th September, 2022, in Prague, Czech Republic.

EARTH REPORT 23 August 2022

University’s research agency says Thailand is not yet ready to lift any of its Pollution Control Zone, following academic evaluation.

Chula Unisearch, a research agency within Chulalongkorn University, held a technical hearing on the readiness to lift Thailand’s many Pollution Control Zone (#PCZ) - eventually concluding that none of the zones are ready for lifting. #Rayong zone remains one of the least ready, due to pollution exceeding standard levels. A key pollutant identified there has been Volatile Organic Compounds or #VOCs.

EARTH REPORT 21 August 2022

Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH) joins citizen scientists, Somsong Wattana and Tiab Smanmit in investigating the environmental impacts of industrial recycling in Eastern Thailand.

Somsong, a native of Phanom Sarakham, Chachoengsao – an eastern province long targeted for industrial expansion – has had a long journey from victims of industrial pollution to active propagators of Citizen Science. On the day of the investigation, he brought a multiprobe water quality tester, which he bought after learning of heavy metal contaminations in Chachoengsao’s water basins. 

MEDIA RELEASE 9 August 2022 

Thailand’s Minister for the Environment has ordered the repatriation of 130 tonnes Australian waste, imported into the country as paper and cardboard but found to be highly contaminated with plastic wastes. The Minister has also ordered an investigation and potential legal proceedings. 

Environmental Health News 08 July 2022 | Ashley James

Researchers find PCBs and dioxins in nearly 90% of eggs near contaminated sites in developing nations. Plastic waste is a major culprit.

Bangkok Post 07 July 2022

Thailand needs a pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) law so the public can be well informed about the risk of industrial pollution and the risk of disaster posed by factories, a seminar was told.

Bangkok Post 06 July 2022 

On Monday, an environmental conservation network submitted a letter to the House of Representatives to resubmit a "Pollutant Release and Transfer Register" (PRTR) bill after it was rejected last year by the cabinet.

EARTH REPORT  05 July 2022

Thai Health Promotion Foundation and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand held a commemorative seminar on the one-year anniversary of the Ming Dih factory fire in Samut Prakan.