Air pollution:a case study of a cashew nut factory

Probably the first experience of the human beings from the impact of air pollution might have taken place when they built fires in poorly ventilated caves. Since then our planet Earth has suffered much from man-made pollution. Cashew nut processing involves the hazards of both air pollution and indoor pollution; the former burns away our planet Earth and the latter affects the health of the factory workers engaged in different processes. The present study deals with only the latter: the occupational health hazards involved in cashew nut processing. This aspect is examined here by means of a case study of one cashew nut processing factory in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu State in India. Cashew nut industry is important at the national level as a foreign exchange earner and is equally important at the local level as an avenue for extensive employment, especially for women. But how can that condone for the deadly sin of polluting our planet?