Introduction: Human civilization is evolving in the fields of science, engineering, architecture and medicine. The population because of these societal advances has allowed individuals to live longer sub healthy lives. Life improvements via transportation have been significantly enhanced because of breakthroughs in metal alloys which are used in car manufacturing. Or the usage of ether (ROR) extracted from corn to support the decline of gasoline. Individuals that live longer are thus able to experiment with different compounds seeking only to further improve on civilization. However, the more advanced our civilization becomes the greater the unknown risk of chemical exposures. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), in various publications, have defined an emerging contaminate as a chemical or material that is characterized by a perceived, potential or real threat to human health. A contaminant may also be emerging because of the discovery of a new source or new pathway to humans and/or a new detection and treatment method (DoD 2006). Nevertheless, the USGS defines emerging contaminates as any synthetic or naturally occurring chemical or any microorganism that is not commonly monitored in the environment. These EC's are thought to have the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and or human health effects. The Environmental Council of the states recently completed a survey of how states agencies currently defined and address emerging contaminates (Jones and Graves 2010). It was found that the definition varied by the state but no state had a clear definition of emerging contaminates and each lacked defined programs to deal with t... ... middle of paper ... ...v. 32, no. 11, p. 3,245–3,260. U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). 2006. Emerging Contaminants. www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/MERIT/merit.html. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997, Guidelines establishing test procedures for the analysis of pollut¬ants (App. B, Part 136, Definition and procedures for the determination of the method detection limit): U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, revised as of July 1, 1997, p. 265–267. U.S. Geological Survey, 2006, Collection of water samples (ver. 2.0): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A4, accessed April 30, 2009, at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/twri9A4/. Writer, J.H., Barber, L.B., Ryan, J.N., and Bradley, P.M., 2011, Biodegradation and attenuation of steroidal hormones and alkylphenols by stream biofilms and sediments: Environmental Science and Technology.
The purpose of this paper is to explain and highlight different aspects of the Powder River Basin to include paleogeography, stratigraphy, maturation history of organic material, vitrinite reflectance data, sulfur content, both historical and current production data, as well as the environmental impact in the basin.
Upper Mississippi River Basin Coordinating Committee, Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Basin Study, vol. 1 and 5 (1972)
No one really knows the long-term effects of these substances, individually or in unpredictable combination, either on human health or on the health of the ecosystems upon which we, and all life, depend. The chemicals are not the same as the ones Carson indicted in Silent Spring, yet they are produced, sold, and used on an unsuspecting public by the same interconnected complex of profit-driven companies and government authorities. Carson’s words in her “Fable for Tomorrow” still apply, as if we lived in the future that she imagined: “No witchcraft, no enemy action” had produced our “stricken world. The people had done it themselves” (Carson, 1962,
The author describes each chapter with a surreal narration. It begins with “A Fable for Tomorrow”, which starkly declares a bleak future of every U.S village if they erred to use pesticides. “The Obligation to Endure” describes the lack of public awareness and how it would become grievous. She justly reasons that if the public might suffer from long-term misfortunes due to insecticides usage, they have a right to know the facts. Felicitous “Elixirs of Death” describes the nature of insecticides in three apt words. Chemical structures of common biocides are explained in an uncomplicated fashion. A series of three successive chapters is dedicated to Earth and its components. These chapters include the closely inter-connected ecological cycles, existing in the water, mantle and soil horizons. Pesticide dispersal in soil followed by its access into the ground water table and the waterways is an inconceivable process. The book promulgates the escape of biocides from their place of application, and their integration into natural bodies. All her chapters thereafter revolve around the various short-term and long-term effects of biocides on the biosphere. Rachel Carson had stated countless dire cases wherein complete ecosystems faced annihilation. The influx of detrimental chemicals extended their reach over animals and plants, and were causing human mortalities as well. Humans are a part of
Toxic substances and Areas of concern: includes pollution prevention, clean up of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes. Although many so...
Chemical pollution into the environment can cause both genotypic and phenotypic changes in many organisms, including humans. More specifically, environmental pollutants like BPA can act as xenoestrogens (estrogen imitators), ultimately affecting hormonal activity and production in an organism. This alteration in activity and production can be termed as endocrine disruption. The endocrine system regulates a variety of processes responsible for growth and development, including gonadal formation and function, digestion, metabolism, sex differentiation, and embryonic development (reviewed by Flint et al., 2012). Chemicals that interfere with the function or structure of the endocrine system can be defined as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007).
When I read that I was astonished and disappointed that we could be so unsafe about potentially harmful chemicals LeBlanc (2010) went on to give a reason. That reason being that the Environmental Protection Agency can only require after there is proof that a substance poses a health risk under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976. LeBlanc (2010) goes on and states that this is the only major environmental regulation that has not been updated and that only five chemicals have been regulated since the law enacted. This act is insane to me and I can’t believe it was ever passed. It seems pretty obvious to me that we should test chemicals for safety before we put them on the market. We should do this for a number of reasons. One of the more important being the health of pregnant women and their
"Step 1. Characterizations of the Watershed." Forest Service: 17 pars. Viewed 7 Nov. 2002. <http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/spl/south_platte_web/step_1.htm>.
Evidence provided to support these claims of human and wildlife harm is largely from laboratory studies in which large doses are fed to test animals, usually rats or mice, and field studies of wildlife species that have been exposed to the chemicals mentioned above. In laboratory studies, high doses are required to give weak hormone activity. These doses are not likely to be encountered in the environment. However the process of bioaccumulation can result in top-level predators such as humans to have contaminants at levels many million times greater than the environmental background levels (Guilette 1994). In field studies, toxicity caused by endocrine disruption has been associated with the presence of certain pollutants. Findings from such studies include: reproductive disruption in starfish due to PCBs, bird eggshell thinning due to DDT, reproductive failure in mink, small penises in alligators due to DDT and dicofol (Guillette 1994, Colburn et al 1996). In addition, a variety of reproductive problems in many other species are claimed to be associated with environmental contamination although the specific causative agents have not been determined. One recent discovery that complicates the situation is that there are many naturally occurring "phytoestrogens", or chemicals of plant origin that exhibit weak estrogenic properties.
Many companies all over the world produce chemicals for their products that are harmful to the environment, human health, and to all living species. Green Chemistry is the use of chemistry for the prevention of chemical pollution to the environment by using chemicals that are benign, or not harmful. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the mission of Green Chemistry is, “To promote innovative chemical technologies that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and use of chemical products.” Green Chemistry contains any aspects and types of chemical processes that reduce the negative effects of certain chemicals, in a way, using chemistry to fight chemistry.
Many pesticides, that of which have many unanswered questions regarding the potential health risk have been authorized by the EPA Office of Pesticide ...
The poisons that we are introducing into our environment is causing us a new slew of health problems. We once had to worry about things such as the bubonic plague, but now, we have to worry about what Rachel refers to as “environmental disease” (p.169).
There are several types of treatment methods present but biological treatment methods have gained much traction in the recent years due to their low operation costs, comparatively benign effects on the environment and their ease of handling and maintenance. Biological wastewater treatment methods can be subcategorized into dispersed growth systems and attached growth systems. Biofilms fall under the latter category (Sehar & Naz, 2016)
Richardson, S. Water Analysis: Emerging Containments and Current Issues. Journal of Analytical Chemistry. 2003, 75, 2831-2857.
Efforts to improve the standard of living for humans--through the control of nature and the development of new products--have also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land is now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. As a result of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution.