Stripped Vehicle Films Pose Health Hazard

As the gleeful raid against black films on vehicles continues, what the city traffic police fails to take into account is the amount of potentially toxic, carcinogenic, and hard-to-dispose-of waste material that they have managed to collect.

These films - which contain polymers, plastic, and some other additives - can be found in great heaps in front of car accessory stores all over the city and, as the drive coninues, the piles will only grow over the next few days. Then, of course, are the stores themselves that are gearing up to dispose of their own inventory of sun films.

While health experts sound a loud and firm "no" to burning this stuff; neither the GHMC, nor the AP Pollution Control seem to be trying to figure out alternative and safe ways to dispose of this waste - i.e. 7 lakh cars and 500 accessory stores worth of toxic waste.

A retired scientist from the Indian Institute Of Chemical Technologies, K Babu Rao claims that the nature of the films is such that burning them would invariably lead to the release of dioxins into the air. These dioxins are some of the most potent known carinogens to humans, and the slightest exposure to them can be harmful.

Meanwhile, car accessory showrooms are grappling with their own losses due to their now-unusable stock of sun film. P Hari, of Harry Cars, claims to have Rs. 1 lakh worth of film that he has no choice but to dump.