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On the Suñace: Tainted Waters
I
n various Western
countries, undeniable
progress has been made in
cleaning up sorne of the
dramatically visible surface
water pollution widely
publicized in !he '60s and
'70s. Sorne of it.
Still it is not hard to find
instances where the visible
effluent of man and his
industries continues to be
dumped into rivers, lakes
and seas as though the day
of reckoning will never
come.
In addition to what can be
seen, alarming evidence has
been turning up of pollution
that is not readily visible to
the eye: concentrations of
metals such as copper,
cadmium, zinc, lead,
mercury, as well as
hundreds of other
contaminants associated
with industrial and municipal
waste.
lf the elements themselves
cannot be seen, the
immediate effects often can.
One of them coming under
increased scrutiny is the
high rate of
diseases-especially
cancer-in fishes taken
from many rivers, lakes and
estuaries. There is
increasing evidence there of
such "invisible pollution."
Said Donald C. Malins, a
biologist with the U.S.
National Marine Fisheries
Services, "What the fish are
telling us is that something
very dangerous is being put
into the environment"
(Los
Angeles Times,
January 11 ,
1984) .
Not only are the water
and the fish thought
hazardous for human
consumption, but anyone
living or working in the area
of the water can be
exposed to toxic elements.
What will it take before
mankind learns that rivers,
lakes and streams are not
to be regarded as limitless
cesspools?
Even when waste is not
purposely dumped into
water, problems can arise
as inadvertent
consequences of human
activity. Thus a potential
time bomb involving millions
of people has been
discovered in much of the
drinking water of Southern
California. The water comes
from the north by way of a
huge aqueduct. On the way
it passes by sorne
abandoned asbestos mines.
Because of erosion, mining
wastes have contaminated
the water in the aqueduct in
what has been described as
the most perplexing water
contamination problem in the
United States.
Measurement of more
than two million asbestos
fibers a liter (slightly more
than a U.S. quart) of water
are not unusual. But
Southern California
clearly must have that
water for its economic
survival.
The link between
breathing asbestos fibers,
especially by smokers, and
lung disease is well
documented. But nothing
conclusive has been put
together concerning oral
ingestion.
In the words of one
scientific report, "the
delayed effects of asbestos
in drinking water are
unknown."
Few are prepared to say,
however. that no danger
from high levels of asbestos
contamination exists.
lt has been noted that
workers (many of whom are
smokers) exposed to
air-borne asbestos have had
high rates of gastrointestinal
cancer as well as lung
diseases, presumably
because they have
swallowed the fibers. To
sorne officials this is a very
real and worrisome
indication that a major
disaster ínvolving severa!
million individuals could now
be in the making.
water is the dumping of sewage
into fresh water supplies. This to–
tally illogical practice is com–
mented on in the "Bulletin of
Atomic Scientists" for November,
1975:
"To a visitor from another planet
it would seem incredible that hu–
man beings who are intelligent
enough for space travel salve their
problems of personal hygiene by
putting their body wastes into the
public drinking water and then
spend billions in futile efforts to
restore the water to its original
condition."
Many are coming to the conclu–
sion that the flush toilet, long con–
sidered one of the prime symbols
of civilized progress, may t urn out
The
PLAIN TRUTH