Chemicals and dangerous wastes, writes Mahmoud Bakr, have an undeniable effect on biodiversity and its binding international agreements. “Chemicals have positively changed the quality of life but they have consequences on man, the environment and biodiversity,” Mohamed Al-Zarqa, an international expert on the environment and wastes and an advisor at the Ministry of Environment, told Al-Ahram Weekly. Al-Zarqa cited as examples “the pesticides sprayed on agricultural lands that kill useful and harmful bacteria. This affects biodiversity, as do the habits of people who dump detergents in sewages, leading to the growth and mushrooming of algae that cover the water's surface, preventing sunlight and oxygen from penetrating water, thus killing organisms that live in water. Dumping plastic waste in seas and oceans affects marine life as well.” It is crucial to follow safe administration procedures when it comes to handling chemicals to “maximise their benefits and decrease their hazards”, added Al-Zarqa. “We should resort to scientific research to use the healthiest substitutes for chemical materials to preserve biodiversity.” Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed concurred. “Big challenges are facing biological diversity such as extinction of species, redistribution of living organisms, changes to the functioning of ecological systems and the introduction of alien and gastric types. All these challenges affect man's health, directly or indirectly.” Zayed referred to the World Health Organisation's report that some killer diseases which have spread throughout the world are one way or another linked to biodiversity. These illnesses appeared as a result of man's mismanagement of his biological surroundings. “Maintaining biological diversity in agricultural systems is the cornerstone of food security and healthy nutrition, and relieves the burdens resulting from non-contagious diseases,” Zayed said. She added that participants at the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP 14), currently being held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh and which runs to 29 November, agreed that biodiversity should play an advanced role to ensure the application of prevention standards to preserve people's health. They concluded that to reach satisfying results, countries should exchange expertise when it comes to environmental effects. It is also vital to follow up on contagious diseases to sound early alarm bells and improve general health, COP 14 attendants agreed.