Harmful effects of chemical led to dip in species diversity

Amritsar, February 10

Department of sciences, Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar, organised an international seminar on ‘environmental toxicology- a major concern’. Professor Satwinderjeet Kaur, department of botanical and environmental sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), said anthropogenic activities were the cause of environmental degradation in the present era.

The keynote speaker for the inaugural session was professor Pooja Chadha an expert of geno-toxicity. Sighting examples of case studies from across the world she established that the harmful effects of various chemical and biological toxicants have led to a decline in species diversity. Dr Sailesh Rao, a PhD student from Stanford University, California, and executive director of Climate Healers, a US based non-profit organisation also spoke on the occasion. He urged people to adopt veganism to help end animal cruelty and reduce carbon emissions. Dr Richa Agarwal, a senior scientist at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information at the National Institute of Health, spoke about how she was engaged in resolving outbreaks of foodborne diseases through rapid identification of pathogens. This was followed by a talk from Dr Hema Kaur Sidhu, owner and founder of Telesleep Services, Maryland. Dr Sidhu talked about the importance of sleep quality and the hampering effect that pollutants, including, chemical and noise pollution have on it.