Preview

Toxins at Home

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2549 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Toxins at Home
Toxins at Home

Boyd

Composition II
Gray
April 25, 2013
Boyd
Research Essay
Gray
April 25, 2013
Toxins at Home Imagine every item you come in contact with daily: from food, clothing, shampoo and conditioner, or even your computer. These items are part of everyone’s everyday life. Yet, everyday people ingest, absorb, or inhale chemicals or toxins found in these items. Many precautions and groups have been formed to protect the environment and human health such as the FDA, NCI, CDC, EPA, WEEEE, etc. So, most blindly believe everything we eat, use, or surround ourselves with daily has to be safe. Many assume that everything consumers purchase has been tested to prove that it is not harmful, and that if it was the government would interfere to prevent its sale; but that is not the case. The Environmental Protection Agency has only been able to make boundaries on only a few chemicals; they lack the power to outlaw many dangerous carcinogens. Even the tiniest exposure to these contaminants can have an awful outcome on our wellbeing. While the U.S. generates or imports an estimated 42 billion pounds of industrial chemicals per day (AAWRE), it is practically impossible to avoid these substances and thedevastating effects they have on our health. Our world appears completely safe looking upon the precautions and companies made to protect our health. Yet a quick hunt on any search engine shows that not only is our environment suffering, but also its citizens. An even more extensive search explains the good intentions behind these harmful chemicals, but it is now understood that they have been wearing on our health all this time. Many unanswered health issues of the day (obesity, diabetes, autism, and attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder) could potentially have chemical associations (ATSDR). Dr. Bruce Lanphear, director of the Cincinnati Children 's Environmental Health Center, stated, "It 's not the environment that 's contaminated so much. It 's



Cited: “AAWRE Diplomates Discuss Future of Stormwater.” 3 August 2010. Mar. 5, 2013. <http://www.aawre.org/stormwater.cfm>. Bernstein, Peter J. “Detroit’s Chemical Warfare.” Allen Community College 4 Sept. 1997. 1 March 2013 <http:// dell-cx.allencc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c9f6da04-2480- Danna, Jim. Puristat. Mar. 4, 2013. <http://www.puristat.com/standardamericandiet/ processedfoods.aspx>. Goffman, Ethan. “E-Waste Not.”Environmental Magazine Sept. 2011: 46 Jake, Rachel “National Cancer Institute.” National Cancer Institute 5 Aug. 2009. 1 March 2013. <http://www. Walsh, Brian. “The Perils of Plastic.”EBSCOhost 4 Dec. 2010. 29 Feb. 2013. <http://dell- cx.allencc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5>.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Quality healthcare has diminished, while healthcare costs have increased. Thousands of chemicals we use on a daily basis contain carcinogens (meaning cancer generating) – including pesticides, detergents, toothpaste, cosmetics, food additives and even baby products.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In her article “If You Work in Cosmetology, Beware of Risks,” Jaclyn Stewart describes how chemicals are everywhere and the most amount of chemicals are located in salons, but people do not realize pregnant women are harming their unborn child with these salon used chemicals. When women go to the salon, they are surrounded by millions of chemicals that will harm their child in the womb. Stewart believes that people see the most popular products being used and they appear to be harmless, but this is not true as they contain the same or even more intense chemicals. The fact these chemicals are so dangerous in salons shows women are in danger to themselves and their newborn. Stewart argues that chemicals found in the kitchen, air, and foods are…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Schettler, T. (2001). Toxic threats to neurologic development of children. Environmental Health Perspective 109(6). P. 813–6 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240616/pdf/ehp109s-000813.pdf…

    • 2780 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    SCI207 final lab paper

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Working in the environmental field one contaminant I come across frequently is Lead. It is found frequently in older homes. It has been found in paint, canned goods and in our water supply. Research has shown that lead poisoning can lead into developmental issues, negatively harm the reproduction system and can ultimately lead cancer. Lead from environmental pollution is not carcinogenic, but even low dose lead exposure has been shown to have detrimental and long-lasting effects on the renal, hemopoietic and nervous system (Fertmann et al., 2004). And while more is being done the United States is far from coming up with a homogenous solution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA, 2011a), as directed by the Safe…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sci 101 Phase 1 Db2

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Department of Health and Human Services, through its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is conducting studies in both animals and humans to better determine and evaluate the potential health consequences of BPA. These studies are designed to better understand how BPA is metabolized in adults and children and determine, among other things, the effects of BPA on the developing bodies of children. Concern over potential harm from BPA is highest for young children, because their bodies are early in development and have immature systems for detoxifying chemicals.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article “Public Risk Perception,” Ropeik (2010) describes a mother, Susan, trying to persuade the school to close because the school have the cancer. She think that the school should not keep her child away from the cancer. In the school, they have the chemical trichloroethylene in the air, so Susan said that the school should close even the cancer is not dangerous. In conclusion, Susan talked about her afraid of TCM, and also she faced another risk. (Ropeik,…

    • 87 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Living downstream essay

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Sandra Steingraber wrote the book living downstream about her experiences with cancer and chemicals. In it she details the wars in playing an active role in the toxic century and in her words” changed chemistry and physics forever.” After each world war the need for each country trying to rapidly industrialize in order to beat other countries was so important that common sense was not present. Countries decided to forgo safety checks in order to make sure their products were more effective. As a result, many chemicals such as chorine, DDT (used as an insect repellant in the war) and PCB’s were released in society for commercial use. DDT in particular was linked to cancer and hurt wildlife in the…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Recently in an article titled “Fracking, 2013,” it was reported that potentially toxic chemicals – including cancer-causing benzene – have been found in the air near fracking sites. (Polsen) Regions containing many drilling rigs have high levels of smog as well as other airborne pollutants, including potential carcinogens, which are substances directly involved in causing cancer. Benzene and other chemicals that irritate eyes and cause headaches, sore throats, or difficulty breathing were found in the air near the wells as well. Many people have become incredibly sick because of where they live. When these residents look to the government for help, the only answer they receive is to simply move out of their homes. Some people have resided in the same home their entire lives and refuse to leave, thus becoming…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Preventions need to start with researching in order to seek for the correlation and raise the awareness. Indeed, the team of Cheslack- Postvana et al. had concluded a positive correlation between the risk of childhood autism with the level of persistent organic pollutant (POPs) in the Finnish Prenatal pilot case study.4 Persistent organic pollutant is an industrial chemical that has remained a long time in the environment. 4 The measurement of POPs in prenatal maternal serum was operated. Afterward, the data was used to find the correlation between the relationship of prenatal POPs exposure and ASD. The samples were taken from 1991 to 2000 and 150 subjects (75 with subjects autism and 75 control subjects) were followed until 2007. The percentage of POPs was measured by using laboratory technique to distinguish each chemical.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is with great concern that I am writing this letter to address the public health of our community. Recently, there have been a number of children and adults who have strangely started to develop similar illnesses. The one thing each of these people has in common is that they all live right here in our community. My feels were that these sudden illnesses were not a matter of coincidence but instead a matter or poor practice. This feeling has proven to be accurate. Upon further investigation, it is has come to light that the reckless policies of our local gas company are endangering the health of our community. Contamination testing done on our water supply as well as soil tests shows extremely high amounts of a toxic chemical that is used by the gas company. This chemical that the company is releasing into our community has been linked to various illnesses that are similar to the ones experienced by our citizens. Interviews with two former employees of the gas company reveal that they were aware of this chemical leaking into our community water supply but the issue continually got swept under the rug. It was these employees belief that the company felt there was not enough of the toxic chemical being leaked to cause health problems. They are not aware as to how our local gas company came up with this irresponsible solution but we are aware as to how it has caused life-threatening illness among our community. Management at the company had no response when asked if they were aware of contamination so it is apparent that we must speak out as a community. Although not all of you have been affected by this shocking behavior, you are bound to be in the future unless we take the appropriate steps. We must unite together and demand changes in the company’s policies so that they are no longer poisoning the citizens of our tight knit community. We shall not give up this fight until we have reached a solution that keeps our health the…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As consumers we have to pay close attention to the products that we purchase and bring into are homes, because there are some products that are too dangerous to be sold even if the side effects are given and other warnings are given. However, we are not always given all of the side effects or warnings; unfortunately, many people find out the hard way after using products such as vehicles, machinery, cleaning solutions, or drugs. Generally, no one truly sees the dangers or risk of these items until someone dies or is severely injured due to a defect or lack of warning labels. Nevertheless, putting regulations on things such as cigarettes, handguns, and prescription drugs would not solve anything because people would just find other ways around…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    SCH3u Workbook

    • 27098 Words
    • 160 Pages

    four areas are strongly interconnected. Science and technology, working on behalf of society, have produced chemicals that help every part of our lives. However, something that…

    • 27098 Words
    • 160 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Natural Science Pollution

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Pollution causes chronic illness, neurological damage and shortened lifespan. For instance, the presence of lead in children lowers I.Q. by an estimated 4-7 points for each increase of 10 μg/dL.3 Our database identifies populations around the globe with blood lead levels ranging from 50 -100 μg/dL, up to 10 times the WHO reference levels for protection against neurological damage.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mike Skinner is a researcher from Washington State University. He investigates chemicals, like DDT and mixture of BPA and phthalates, which can cause obesity and reproductive biological problems5. Leonardo Trasande from New York University Medical School studies levels of BPA in urine, the BMI of children and its relation to obesity. University of California, Irvine researcher Bruce Blumberg studies obesogens, endocrine disruptors and TBT effects on hormone receptors3. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals, when absorbed in the body either mimic or block hormones, disrupting the body’s normal functions. It includes DES, dioxin, PCBs, and other pesticides2. Rob Sargis studies effects of endrin, tolylfluanid and BPA on the glucorticoid pathway7. With increasing obesity rates, many scientists believe chemical exposures that mess with hormonal pathways make the human body more susceptible to obesity2.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smoking During Pregnancy

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Arsenic, rocket fuel, toilet cleaner, lighter fluid, and batteries; what if this were the newest baby food? American’s would be in outcry and rightly so. These ingredients are all poisonous, yet they aren’t just found in rat poison and household cleaners, they are found in cigarettes. Despite this 10% of women will smoke cigarettes regularly throughout their pregnancies even though they have full knowledge of the consequences (“Program”). The children of these mother’s are exposed to over 4000 chemicals before they are even born (“Neurobehavior”). While some may believe that smoking during pregnancy is a women’s right, in reality it is child abuse due to the mother knowingly putting her child in danger. Due to the severe health risks smoking cigarettes during pregnancy puts mother and child in, it should be outlawed and strict consequences put into place in order to protect America’s children.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays