Essay Comparing Agent Orange, DDT, And Benzene

Today, the Agent Orange case is a serious threat to public health as veterans and generations affected up onto today are still suffering. A large amount "Herbicide Orange" was used in Vietnam has been of major belief to many that contributed to the most tragic environmental and public health problems. Scenarios such as a U.S. troop who was just an electrician said he saw "no action" in the war, decades later this veteran developed Type 2 diabetes. A lot of others experience their scars from this exposure right away, especially the troops who were in the first line of exposure. The newly releases troops complained about skin rashes such as chloracne, cancer of all sorts, other health issues, but one devastating of them all, birth defects in their children. They all believed the spraying of AO have contributed to the root of the issues. Although, the spray was normally diluted with oil and waterways, it is also believed to have long-term effects on rivers and lakes. Also causing the civilians of the affected areas to be a long lasting effect upon them. Agent Orange herbicide was not just an ordinary herbicide. It was mixed with a unique amount of two different components, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. The U.S. introduced this chemical as a design to destroy plant life in the war in 1961. It was commonly used to destroy or defoliate dense, forest broad leaf plants, trees, shrubs and food crops. Because the North Vietnamese had a war advantage from heavy jungles and camouflage hiding

Conduct studies on food, air, water and soil to determine how they are altered when coming into contact with medicines, garden chemicals and industrial chemicals

The decisions that Gina McCarthy, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, makes have a direct impact on the health of the nation. Gina and her agency ensure the safety and cleanliness of the environment through standard setting, monitoring levels of chemicals and pollutants, and making sure these standards are enforced throughout all levels of industry. One group of industrial chemicals that have been receiving attention recently are the environmental endocrine disrupters (EED), such as DDT and Bispehnol A, that can be found in a wide range of products that Americans use in their everyday life. From household cleaners, food and beverage containers, beauty products, and even children’s toys, these chemicals are widely

Following the industrial revolution, societies across the world began to notice strange effects on individuals throughout certain local communities. Though toxicology was a relatively new and rudimentary practice at the time, scientists were able to trace these effects back to chemicals being exposed to industrial workers, their families, and nearby neighborhoods. Unfortunately, industry in the United States continued to expand with little regard for the effects on human health. As a result from this expansion the amount of chemicals released into the atmosphere skyrocketed continuously all the way to present day society. However, as industry expanded so did scientific technology, the understanding of chemicals, their exposure

Dibromo chloropropane (DBCP) is a potent pesticide (Yearout, et. at., 2008). Even though this pesticide is deadly to pests, it is also not destructive to humans. Because it is a pesticide being sprayed in the atmosphere it is easily inhaled by humans and can be absorbed by the skin. DBCP has also been suggested to cause cancer, liver damage, and sterility. DBCP is manufactured by the Dow Chemical Company and has been banned from use in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) back in the late 70’s (Yearout, et. at., 2008). However, fruit companies in developing nations continued to purchase DBCP from the United States chemical companies. Not only do other countries who buy these chemicals for use hold the major share of responsibility and liability but need to be held

The substance that I decided to discuss is polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs). The reason I chose this substance is because I never heard of it and I wanted to gain further knowledge on it. In 1865 the first PCBs similar chemical was found by a product of coal tar. PCBs is a man made chlorinated hydrocarbons and was produced in the United States for almost 50 years. It was finally banned in 1979. According to our textbook Warren County, a dominate black area had 32,000 cubic yards that was contaminated with extreme amount of toxic from polychlorinated biphenyls in 1982.

Endocrine Disruptors are chemicals that mimic the hormones or blocks cellular responses in the body. They are known to be present in plastic bottles, food additives, and pesticides (Young, 2010). Some examples of endocrine disruptors are BP-A (Smith, 2008). These chemicals at certain dose, can interfere with the endocrine (or hormone) system in mammals. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders. This paper will describe the different forms of endocrine disruptors in the environment

During recent years, numerous newspaper and magazine articles have suggested that humans may be at risk because small amounts of well known environmental contaminants, such as dioxin, PCBs and DDT, can affect hormone levels. Hormones are produced by the endocrine system as regulators of biological function in target organs. Because hormones play a critical role in early development, toxicological effects on the endocrine system often have an impact on the reproductive system. The term endocrine disruptor is used to describe chemicals that can mimic hormones and may either enhance or counteract their effects. It has been suggested that these hormone changes can, in turn, lead to a variety of health problems

Most consumers are unaware of the chemicals they ingest on a daily basis. Some of these chemicals are added to ensure shelf life, taste, or texture. While others are ingested by eating animals that have come into contact with chemicals in their environment or their feed. While government agencies such as the Federal Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture state that these chemicals are harmless in small doses other research has proven otherwise. Using laboratory animals these chemicals have been shown to increase the development of cancer, chromosomal defects, leukemia, reproductive and neurological problems. This paper will focus on the common chemicals of Bisphenol-A

This contaminant is known to be classified as a carcinogen and a cause of cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the Environmental Protection Agency.

This paper explores three published articles that reflect the findings from studies conducted to examine the relationships between environmental hormone mimics (endocrine disruptors) and their effect on the human body. This paper specifically discusses three key environmental hormone mimics: bisphenol-A, dioxins, and pesticides. Each of the three studies links the chosen environmental hormone mimic to abnormalities caused by exposure to the chemicals. Bisphenol-A is linked directly to altering estrogen levels in women. The consequences are carried onto the child if the carrying mother ingests BPA while pregnant. Dioxins are extremely harmful and cannot be disposed of easily despite the amount of land, money, and clean up efforts that are taken. Pesticides simply from working in fields or by eating fruits and vegetables are very harmful in men. A male’s reproductive system is directly impaired as sperm counts drop dramatically and abnormalities effecting sperm size and shape occur.

The environment plays a huge part in our society, it is very much needed and includes everything we need to survive such as water, soil and air. Although the environment includes the use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, exposure to chemicals, radiation and sunlight which can cause cancer. Benzene, asbestos, vinyl chloride, radon, and arsenic are just some of the toxins which may cause cancer. Carcinogens are any substance that cause cancer. It is due the disruption of cellular processes or mutation. The most main causing chemicals occur in workplaces where large amounts of toxic chemicals are used. The amounts of toxins found in food, air soil and water are not as high as you would find in the work environment in which it makes it very difficult to measure in work environments due to the fact that many other significant factors for example other than man-made pollutants that do determine a community’s cancer rates. The problem with

Dr. Paul Müller discovered chemical DDT effectiveness on insects just prior to World War II. His work received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 1,9. During World War II the Allied forces used DDT to combat typhus and malaria vectors 15. After the war they used the chemical to control the vector and agricultural pests, helping to successfully

The carcinogens as the mixture chemicals initiate and cause different of cancer diseases to a variety

We live in a world where synthetic chemicals are routinely used for the production of essential components of modern life. As more research emerges correlations are made, chemicals are tested, and toxicants are identified, reengineered, and replaced with others equal in cause but unequal in effect. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the national authority tasked with this dynamic approach.