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Contamination of water essay
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Contamination of water essay
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With water contamination incidents like Flint, Michigan frequenting the news, municipal water quality has been in the spotlight. 20% of all water systems nationwide tested above the EPA’s “action level” for lead contamination. The EPA estimated it would take $300B to fix the United States’ water infrastructure. Lead, even in the smallest amounts, can cause lower IQ, hyperactivity, infertility, stunted growth, and hearing problems. Chemical and microbiological contaminants are harmful, but they can also negatively affect the taste of water, increasing the demand for purified water.
Americans are actively working to reduce their carbon footprint. However, the average American consumes 167 plastic water bottles per year, yet only recycles 38
This is why the Flint water crisis is so critical today. Because young children are being exposed to lead and they should actually be screened from the lead. The pipelines with lead in the water system and the whole community of Flint, not being able to drink water out of the facet as well as not being able to
Lead is a metal found virtually everywhere even today. Sources of lead include auto body shops, electric storage batteries, glazes for china dishes, crockery, insecticides, electric cable insulation, hose, pipe, sheet and floor coverings. Lead is associated with stain glass work, jewelry making and antique ceramic doll painting. Although lead in paint was outlawed, there are still many homes that have lead paint (White et al, 1990). Lead found in gasoline was found in one study to account for 23--27% of the lead blood levels in the people tested (Wagner, 1991). This exposure to lead sources is more of a concern for children due to the characteristic habit of children to taste everything they touch; this characteristic is known as pica. Children are also in closer contact with their lead polluted environment during play. They are more active and exposed to outdoor contaminates and they inhale dust and dirt that are lead contaminated. Furthermore, the adsorption rate of lead in the digestive tract is up to 10 times greater in chil...
In the first article "The Curse of Water Bottles" the author is obviously trying to convince people to stop wasting bottles and recycle. For example "There are solutions like using your own personal water bottle and refilling it" and that would save from buying water bottles, and reduce some of the waste. It also states "Some cities are fining homeowners and businesses for not recycling" so that means even cities are trying to get people to stop wasting water bottles. Companies and/or states have tried putting rewards on the bottles if you return them, as stated "Some states have tried to put a nickel return fee on water bottles like those on soda and other beverages" but it still doesn't work out for everyone, because "grocery
When lead enters the environment, it starts to become a problem. After a period of about ten days, depending on the weather, it falls to the surface. Here lead builds up in the soil particles. Where it may make its way into underground water or drinking water due to the fact the grounds acidic or if it's soft enough. Either way it stays a long time on the soil or in water. Months or years down the road after the lead has built up it starts to become a problem for children that play outside of their homes . This lead containing soil particles get on the child's hands or clothing and end up in the child's mouth. After the build up of so much lead it leads to lead poison. Lead poisoning has been an issue since the early 1900s, when the use of lead started being banned from the manufacturing of paint in foreign countries such as Australia. Unfortunately, the United States did not start banning it until 1978, when it finally became illegal in our nation. Today 90% of the lead in the atmosphere comes from the burning of gasoline. This problem has been a large issue since the 1920s, when the Environmental Protection Agency started making laws on the amount of lead allowed in gasoline.
In the document “How Tap Water Became Toxic in Flint , Michigan” by Sara Ganim the issue was that the residents could not get clean water from their taps . The state decided that they would save money and switch their water . As they switched , residents noticed that the water started to look funny and smell funny . Some thought it was sewage but it was really iron in the water . The Department of Environmental Quality was not treating the Flint River water with an anti-corrosive agent causing the water to have lead in addition to iron . The lead in the water lead to lead poisoning and several medical conditions .Due to all the health conditions the Doctors decided to take matters into their own hands . Patients reported having rashes and
... water crisis will have a long term affect on those who are consuming this water on a daily basis. Lead attack the brain and can cause coma and possibly death. Children who survive lead poisoning are left with serious health issues such as metal defects and leave a child mentally unstable. Even at lower levels of exposure symptoms such as behavioural changes such as reduced attention span, reduced intelligence quotient (IQ). Children with smaller amount of lead exposure also showed increased anti social behaviour, it also reduces educational attainment. These side effect of high lead exposure can leave children scarred for life. The water crisis in Flint Michigan car scar children for life. This could all be resolved if they could come to an agreement and replace the water pipes, allowing for cleaner and healthier water to be accessible to citizens in Flint Michigan.
In conclusion, lead is a very widespread poison that has been intertwined throughout the history of mankind. To prevent poisoning from this toxic substance, foods should be washed prior to cooking of eating. Hands, particularly those of young children, should be washed before meals (Harte et al. 1991). Flaking lead-based paint needs to be removed by a professional; intact lead paint on buildings should be maintained occasionally by painting over using lead-free coatings. Joggers and cyclists should exercise away from traffic and avoid peak driving hours (Harte et al. 1991). As a nation, strides are being made to lower contact with lead on day to day bases. On the other hand, countries around the world need to learn from history’s mistakes on lead usage; otherwise, they are just going to repeat the past.
Another point that Andrew makes is that Recycling Barely Dents Demand. “Even if the cans go back to being cans, it’s not enough. Here’s some math: The average American drinks 2.5 cans of soda per day. That’s about 778 million cans. If 100,000 cans are recycled every minute (they are), we’re still about 600 million cans short. And that’s just in one day.” said Andrew
Every year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our environment, severely polluting oceans, beaches, forests, and even the towns and cities we live in. In the ocean alone, it is believed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic pollutes the waters (“Plastic Statistics”, Ocean Crusaders).The majority of plastic pollution can be traced back to single-use items, such as grocery bags, bottles, and plastic packaging. According to United Nations Environment, “At the rate we are dumping items such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use, by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish…” (“UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic”, UN Environment). This pollution is a major problem and endangers not only the environment, but human
I chose to watch the Frontline episode on “Poisoned Waters”. This documentary showed the environmental issues involving case studies on the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. By examining how these rising pollutants along with industrial contaminants like PCB, lead, mercury and agricultural pollution. America has kept from making many of the nation’s waterways fishable and swim able again. This was a goal set by Congress nearly four decades ago.
“People complained of the brown water. There were boil-water advisories after the water was found to have E. coli contamination, and the drinking water also had unsafe levels of a chlorine byproduct” In April 2014 Flint changed it’s water source, from Detroit water and sewerage department water to the Flint river. However, in the process the officials failed to apply the corrosion inhibitors which lead to flint’s water to be contaminated. Which, contains lead that causes a lot of health problems now in flint.
The US Container Recycling Institute estimates that 67 million plastic water bottles are discarded every day, enough plastic water bottles to wrap around the planet 149 times each year. Indeed, plastic water bottles should be banned from use by the public. The usage of water bottles should be suppressed because they are unimaginably dangerous, wasteful, expensive, and rarely recycled.
Promote social responsibility; recycle scrap water bottles and use recycled plastic in the production of our bottles
Being convenient enough for everyday use and even tasting better to some, plastic bottles are a popular way of consuming beverages. They are convenient and to some people, can even taste better. However, the process of manufacturing and transporting the millions of bottles produced is detrimental to the environment. Continued use of plastic bottles could exponentially hurt the planet.
While walking through the park last Sunday, I observed a shocking scene. There were two cans: one for recycling and one for trash. The recycling receptacle had only an empty Dr. Pepper can and a few used Ozarka water bottles. On the other hand, the trash can had a plethora of half eaten meals, wrappers, banana peels and disgustingly even bottles, cans, newspapers and plastics that could have been recycled. Because people do not understand or do not care to understand about conserving our resources, many reusable items are being put in landfills when recycling these items could help save the environment. People should know the negative impact of throwing away a water bottle or newspaper, purchasing meat from the grocery store or consuming gasoline has on the environment, and many do not. By informing society about how their decisions affect the environment, we can help save our planet and change our attitude toward the land we live on, the water we drink and the air we breathe” and truly show respect for the stuff that we depend on.