HYDERABAD, Feb 7: Speakers at the inaugural session of a two-day international symposium on "Analytical and environmental chemistry" have called for more research to protect environment and ensure a pollution-free environment.

The symposium, being organized by the Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry of the University of Sindh, began at the Institute of Sindhology in Jamshoro on Monday.

Vice-Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui presided over the inaugural session and VC of the Allama Iqbal Open University Dr Syed Altaf Hussain was chief guest and Dr Asadullah Kazi, the VC of the Isra University, the guest of honour.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Siddiqui urged scholars to discover new findings to protect environment and said that it was direly needed to face challenges of pollution through new discoveries of chemicals and ideas of awareness to masses.

He said that scholars should work together for a pollution-free environment and added that the symposium was a timely effort to gather scholars on the important issue concerning human life.

He said that scholars by exchanging views would discover some concrete findings for protecting mankind against polluted environment.

Professor Hussain said that the world faced all sorts of pollution on account of different productions, counting water and air pollution as being the most dangerous for humankind.

He highlighted steps taken by the USA to protect environment through legislation and allocation of funds. He said that in the US, industrial sector was mainly responsible for water pollution and deadly pollutants from around 370,000 manufacturing units discharged different kinds of wastage into fresh water. He added that water containing wastage pollutants was discharged in streams, lakes and oceans which resultantly spread pollution.

He said that the US Environmental Protection Agency had noted that around 40 per cent of the country's surveyed lakes, rivers and streams were too polluted for the purposes of supply of drinking water, fishing and swimming since they contained pollutants of grit, asbestos, phosphates, nitrates, mercury, lead and caustic soda, etc.

He described rain drainage as another major polluting agent as it carried debris, sediments of building construction and animal waste from farms, adding that pesticides and fertilizer residues also contributed to water pollution.

He said: "We do not know much about activities or effectiveness of the EPA in Pakistan but according to general impression, it is not doing much."

He said that hopefully the symposium would discuss some sophisticated methods of analysis of environmental samples and deliberate upon outcome of a meticulous research on different kinds of pollution.

He said that they had to coordinate findings of their research work with implementation of regulations to check environmental hazards.

Dr Kazi pointed out that it was a healthy sign for universities and institutions of higher learning to organize seminars, symposium and conferences to identify issues and challenges facing the world and their solutions.

He said that analytical chemistry was a science of measurement in chemical systems and also a study of chemistry in biosphere and factors that directly or indirectly influenced it.

He added that earth, food, air and water were affected in one or the other way by pollutants.

Dr Mohammad Iqbal Bhangar, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, said that scholars from Poland, Iran and Bangladesh and universities of Pakistan, representatives of research organizations and industries were participating in the symposium.

He said that the centre was providing analytical services to industries in Sindh and Punjab and had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chittagong University, adding that it was also working with the Isra University.

In the first working session of the symposium, Professor (Dr) Teresa Kowalska delivered a lecture, explaining her research work.