In “Lead Contamination in Flint - An Abject Failure to Protect Public Health” David Bellinger examines the impact Flint’s contaminated water has and will continue to have on its population, primarily the children. In 2014, executives from the Flint Water Treatment Plant decided to use the Flint River as the main source of water instead of Lake Huron as a “cost saving measure.” The river is polluted with lead from older, now defunct industrial factories which specialized in products that contain harmful byproducts. One of the water-purifying agents used in the Flint River is ferric chloride which has an effect on naturally occurring bio-matter in water, increased corrosiveness.…
850 people call AFN home, one-quarter of the residents is Children.(MacDonald, E., et al 2007) These petrochemical plants produce toxic pollutants such as critical air contaminants (CAC’s,): carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrogen oxides. CAC’s are toxic and can lead to respiratory disease, heart disease, and death. (MacDonald, E., et al 2007) Petrochemical plants also release a large amount of endocrine disrupting chemicals that disrupt hormonal processes which can alter the sex-ratio birth pattern.…
In the article “I’m a Flint resident. I’m done paying for water that is not safe” by Tunde Olaniran, Olaniran discusses the issues surrounding the water crisis in Flint Michigan. She speaks of her own history regarding the unsafe water and how she paid her bills until she was afraid to drink it or even let it touch her skin. The water crisis is due to high levels of lead and corroded pipes which combine together to make unsafe water for all purposes. Some experienced hair loss and scalp issues when washing their hair.…
Dense non-aqueous phase liquids, also known as DNAPLs are chemicals denser than water, which do not typically dissolve into water. These toxic chemicals seep through the soil and find ways into groundwater depending on the physical chemistry of the substance(s). When the dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) have entered the groundwater they will continue to flow with it as a result of the hydrological cycle. There is no absolute way of knowing where the source of the DNAPLs is located, or if any bodies of water are contaminated even after they are discovered. As a result of the constant flow of the ground water, it creates further difficulty in locating the exact source of the DNAPLs contamination, even after the source is found.…
Out of people’s faucets the water comes up yellowish, brown, and murky. People can light their water on fire while it is coming right out of the faucet because methane and other chemicals leaked inside the water supply. The water is unfit for consumption. People say water tastes metallically. Of the water that comes back up, the drilling industries illegally dump the toxic into fields and streams.…
The proposition in which I chose to conduct research on is California Proposition 65. This proposition is also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. This proposition was issued by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. According to the website prop 65 clearinghouse this proposition does not allow a person who is doing business in California to expose chemicals that can cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without giving a warning. Also chemicals are refrained from being near the presence of any drinking water.…
In her book Living Downstream, Sandra Steingraber blends her narrative writing style with scientific research and data to provide an accessible account of the cancer epidemic in the United States and its link to the environment. It is Steingraber’s belief that it is essential for human beings to not only question, but also understand how a lifetime of incremental exposures to chemicals like DDT, PCBs, and atrazine increase an individual’s risks of developing cancer at some point in their life. Throughout the course of the book Steingraber balances her personal experience growing up in rural Tazwell County Illinois, her diagnosis with bladder cancer in her early twenties, and how her environmental exposure to certain industrial and agricultural…
In “Fracking is Destroying Our Groundwater” by Tracy Carluccio, The deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network,she explains how the harmful toxins used in fracking get into people’s drinking water and land. ”Fracking disturbs, distributes, and carries upward with the fracked gas ‘produced waters’ containing radioactive materials, heavy metals, hydrocarbons such as BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and toluene), bromide, highly concentrated salts, and many other organic and inorganic compounds that, when exposed to our environment, are dangerous health hazards--many are known carcinogens and toxic to biological life,” (Carluccio). When these toxins get into a humans system the effects can be deadly. BTEX, can cause harmful effects on the central nervous system. When this hydrocarbon enters into a plant’s nervous system, it completely wipes it out; kIlling plant life and making humans ill.…
(http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis). People in Flint, have been drinking and bathing in water that has enough lead to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition…
Toxicological Science can lessen the casualties of or effects to human health and the environment, but only by furthering the science and technology of it. “Advances in the technology of hydraulic fracturing of shale to produce natural gas and oil offers the United States welcome opportunities to enhance domestic energy options and promote energy independence” (Goldstein 1). The research gathered from Toxicological science shows and characterizes the chances of being at risk when being exposed to these chemicals. This type of science helps identify information on the risks of fracking. This Science help with keep everyone safe and have a much cleaner and also safer environment.…
There have also been studies that suggest that chemicals used during fracking, such as methanol, formaldehyde, sodium hydroxide etc., are carcinogens 2. When fracking occurs in a specific site, the chance for contamination is low but as the number of sites increase, the chance for contamination increases 4. It is suggested that advanced testing should be used to trace chemicals used in water during fracking to groundwater and determine if there is a correlation 4. It is projected that many shale productions around the country will have an increase in water usage and it is very important to determine if this will be harmful to public health…
Why is something so harmful that was threatening crops, towns, and the livelihood of people not disposed properly and instead put in water? The people of Canada saw first hand what the dangers phosphate fluoride by-products cause.…
This paper is illustrating the point that Chromium is both beneficial and baneful. Chromium can be very harmful to the environment and the organisms that inhabit it. Alongside the afflictions Chromium can have on the surrounding environments, the element has many assets that benefit the health of said denizens. As synthesized from minerals found in nature, Chromium was introduced and discovered in 1798, it is used for hardening steel, to prevent corrosion alongside various medical uses, and also has a plethora of adverse effects when accidentally released into the ecosystem. As interesting as the element is, it’s a rather queer one.…
(10) Do we have to bring up the fact that 97% of western European counties have rejected the absurd notion of water fluoridation to gain some traction? It is obvious that something else is at play here. The same forces that dictate most all policies have decided this is the way it is going to be, if you do nothing. They have elected to bury the truth about a toxic “medicine” and denied people one of their most basic rights. The right of informed consent to medication.…
After a stream of bad luck, she finally convinces a lawyer to give her a job as a file clerk at his firm. Although no one took her all too seriously at work because of her lack of experience and “trashy” ensemble, she soon changes their perception of her when she begins to investigate a suspicious pro bono real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. After relentless prying she finds out that PG&E was secretly trying to buy land from local residents in order to cover up the damages done in the area. Come to find out, they had been contaminating an entire neighborhood’s water supply with a deadly toxin called hexavalent chromium and not telling anyone. Erin Brockovich is by far the most interesting model of leadership in this movie but when you consider mainstream leadership qualities, she is not our usual contender.…