The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has expressed deep concern over health and environmental hazards caused due to ship breaking at Alang in Gujarat and other places in the country.

The premier national agency has said that the ship breaking industry has not only affected the local environment but also the health of workers engaged in the process.

"There are various harmful factors associated with ship breaking such rpt such as asbestos, poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, chromite, mercury, fumes of welding and cuffing, radiation and off course noise, vibrations and air pollution," Acting Director, NEERI, Dr Tapan Chakrabarti said.

Other harmful materials include battery, compressed gas cylinders, organic and firefighting liquids. When these chemicals enter the environment, they not only pollute but also cause adverse health impacts, Chakrabarti told PTI.

Some major health fall outs include breathing difficulties, lungs cancer (due to asbestos dust), anemia, nervous system (due to lead), eczema and respiratory diseases (due to chromium),lung and scrotum cancer besides cell damage.

Even burning of solid waste in the open causes may result in dioxins which poses threat to suppression of immune system in pre-natal and post-natal stages in children, he said.

The shipbreaking industry, involving one of the most hazardous occupations, has picked up momentum in recent years in few Asian countries like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India and Turkey, mainly due to availability of affordable labour cost.

A biochemist, chemical engineer and scientist of repute, Chakrabarti said ship breaking activities are a source of widespread environmental degradation.

The organic pollutants and chemicals that remain intact for long pose adverse affects on both mankind and animals. In animal studies, dioxins have shown reduction of sperm production, he said.

The ship breaking in Alang located near Bhavnagar is considered to be the second largest ship breaking yard in the world which was set up in 1982. On an average 200 ships are broken every year and annual turnover is Rs 2000 crores.

Pipavav also in Gujarat and Mumbai also have ship breaking. The Andhra Pradesh government has designated Vodarevu port as specialised port for ship breaking.

Arindam Ghosh, scientist and Head, R & D planning unit, said the Supreme Court has issued directives to ensure that ship should be decontaminated by the ship owner prior to the breaking and the onus is on respective State Pollution Control Boards and that special care must be taken in handling asbestos waste.

"The Gujarat Pollution Control Board in case of Alang, should ensure continuous monitoring of ambient air, suspended particular matter and noise level as per the standards fixed. The ship should be properly decontaminated by the ship owner prior to the breaking," Ghosh said.

The apex court had earlier barred French ship 'Le Clemenceau' from entering Indian waters as it was a condemned French Navy ship. Fears were raised that asbestos and other hazardous materials on the ship would lead to environmental degradation as the Alang ship breaking yard was not adequately equipped with environmental sound technologies and practices for ship breaking besides disposal of hazardous waste.