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POLLUTION
Why we're
notwinning the battle
H
ow far have we pro–
gressed in t he fight
agai nst poll ution?
In so rne areas, astou nding
cleanup took place in the 1970s.
You could breathe the ai r with–
out distress. In rivers once
declared dead, fish returned .
But a t the same time that limited
progress occurred in reducing sorne
types of pollution, scientists are
only now aware that we humans
pollute our environment differently
than a few generations ago.
In the last five decades signifi–
cant changes have occurred in the
types of pollution produced . Late
20th-century man endures pollu–
tion that was not experienced by
forme r generations.
Think of these facts. Since
The
Plain T ruth
began chronicling
world events in 1934, chemi sts
developed pest icides, herbicides,
pl astics, synthetic food additives,
drugs- thousands of chemicals re–
sulting in toxic waste. T hanks to
human desire for comfort and plea–
sure, these chemicals and their nox–
ious side effects are now engulfing
our society! Electric utilities, petro–
leum refining, mechanized agricul–
t ure a11d food processing all use
chemicals, resulting in toxic waste.
Unlike smokestack pollution or
filth- ridden rivers, many new forms
of chemical pollution remain unde–
tected.
Decades
may elapse befare a
problem arises. Exposure to deadly
chemicals is often insidious- some–
times with fatal results only showing
up years later.
The Big Change
Befare 1934 chemical pollution
affecting individuals usually origi-
February 1984
by
Ronald S. Toth
nated from contamination on the
job-lead poisoning in mines and
smelters, or black lung in coal min–
ers- and was limited to the area of
production. Today as many as 1,000
new chemical formulas come on the
market every year. Around 35,000
of the 50,000 chemicals
now available on the U.S.
market, for example, have
been classified by the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) as eithe r
definitely or potentially
hazardou s to hum a n
health. And sorne t hat a re
banned in the U .S. are
legal in othe r countries,
and vice versa.
For relatively few of
these chemical compounds
do scientists know the
long- term effects o n
health or at what levels
they cause health prob–
Jems. Many man -made
chemicals cannot b e
broken down natura lly and
will be toxic and danger–
ous for hundreds, sorne
even thousands of years.
Few realize how pro–
foundly chemical develop–
ment has impacted man's
environment.
Deadly mixtures of chemicals
were carted off to municipal dumps
or placed in drums and buried or
mixed wjth garbage, or dumped into
the nearest sewer, stream or lake.
These hazardous wastes-some
dating from 40 years ago-now have
Our Chemical Environment
When the surge of syn–
Chemicals carelessly dumped leacb into water
supplies, rivers, even the oceans, or evaporate.
thetic chemical compound s first
developed, global chemical and toxic
waste disposal tended to be haphaz–
ard and carelessly done. Manufac–
ture rs did not realize at that time
they were dumping substances that
could find their way into the water
supply or combine with other ele–
ments to become hazardous.
come back to haunt us. Chemicals
leach into water supplies, rivers,
even t he oceans, or evaporate into
the a ir. Declared one health official,
..Toxic waste will be the majar envi–
ronmental and public health prob–
Jem facing the U.S. [and we must
add, other nations] in the '90s."
(Cont
i
nued on page 21)
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