The Negative Effects of Persistent Organic Pollutants

Also depicted in this paper is the type of cancers caused by each chemical and other related health problems associated with each chemical. Finally, the role of government agencies such as FDA, EPA and OSHA in preventing excessive amount or zero amounts of toxic chemicals from entering the environment will be discussed. The last paragraphs will enumerate the inferred conclusion from my research on Agent Orange, DDT and Benzene.

Polychlorinated Biphenyl or PCBs is a chlorine based organic compound with the formula of C12H10−xCLx . Polychlorinated biphenyls was used in many different things such as coolants, lubricants for transformers, and other electrical equipment. The production of polychlorinated biphenyls is stopped all together in the united states in the year of 1977 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA did this due to the buildup of polychlorinated biphenyls found in the environment.

From 1947 to 1977, these two plants legally discharged from 500,000 to 1.5 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson, and unknowingly saturated the bedrock beneath both sites with at least that much again. There are PCBs in Hudson River water, biota, and sediment from Hudson Falls to New York City - 200 miles that comprise the nations largest Superfund site. Pure PCBs are oozing out of the bedrock to this day, constantly recontaminating the river and over 300,000 pounds remain concentrated in bottom sediments of the river today. The spread of PCBs throughout the Hudson River and the food chain, which it supports, has created one of the most extensive hazardous waste problems in the nation. Polychlorinated biphenyl’s (PCBs) are a group of synthetic oil-like chemicals (therefore insoluble in water) of the organochlorine family. Until their toxic nature was recognized and their use was banned in the 1970s, they were widely used as insulation in electrical equipment, particularly transformers. Reputable chemists have since concluded, “it was probably a mistake ever to make or use PCBs.” These are serious poisons, which have been shown to cause damage to the reproductive, neurological and immune systems of wildlife and humans and are known to cause cancer. Exposure has also been linked to behavioral damage. Specifically, because PCBs in the body mimic estrogen, women of childbearing age and their infants are particularly susceptible

Akwasasne Mohawk peoples has shown that pollutants, such as lead, DDT (dichloro-diphenyl- trichloroethane), which is stored as the metabolite DDE (1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(chlorophe- nyl)ethylene),

(Rachel Carson, 1962). Unfortunately, it’s true. Synthetic chemicals used against pests are causing greater damage to everything else instead of their intended targets. Any thing that is living (including us) that gets in the way of these chemicals is either going to be injured or killed. “A 1986 National Cancer Institution study found that farmers exposed to 2,4-D for 20 or more days a year had a sixfold higher risk of developing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.”

Pesticides have been in use for centuries in homes and in agriculture. Poisonous chemicals such as arsenic and cyanide have been used with varying degrees of success in controlling insects and rodents. As time passed, chemistry and the improvement of industrial techniques have created many potent compounds which have useful applications both in agriculture and human health. However, developmental progress comes with risks and unforeseen consequences. The correlation between the introduction of pesticides into our environment, and the subsequent environmental impacts has implicated toxic substances in the damage of ecosystems and health concerns. In

Everyday almost 500 of these chemicals end up in use in the United States, this is a pace that the environment can by no means keep up with let alone adjust to. Carson (1962) describes this in terms of mans war on nature, discussing the nature of these 200 chemicals that have been produced between the mid 1940s and the beginning of the 1960s and being branded as pesticides. Carson insists that these ‘pesticides’ should be renamed as ‘biocides’ as they continue to harm our environment at an unprecedented level (Carson,

“A common misconception is that all man-made chemicals are harmful, and all natural chemicals are good for us. However, many natural chemicals are just as harmful to human health, if not more so” (Lorch). Dorea Reeser provides a different perspective to counteract the harmful effects of manmade chemicals. Dorea Reeser upholds a Ph. D. in environmental chemistry at the University of Toronto. She researches and studies the chemical reactions at water surfaces, and how the chemical and physical properties influence these reactions and the release of important trace gases into the troposphere.

But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.” (Cason, P. 276) In the end no one benefits from harsh chemicals being sprayed. The environment suffers, people suffer, and wildlife suffers. If manufacturing companies were honest about what their product does, people would be hesitant to use these products, and they surely would not use them in such close contact. Other more effective ways are out there to rid an area of unwanted species, but currently people are unwilling to adopt those practices. I agree with Rachel Carson’s point of view of the dangers of biocides. I think they do need to be monitored on larger scale. These chemicals may not be killing people in staggering numbers, but there has been a few cases. Also many bird flocks have died off, and this change is extremely noticeable in the communities and seem to have happened over night. The same chemicals endangering the ecosystem are in human the human blood stream. The question is not if it will have negative effects on the human population; it is when and to what extent. Chemical producers as well as consumers need to take a closer look at what they are spraying in their own back yard. Everyone has an out of sight out of mind attitude, but once the affects come into sight it may be too late

Depending on the changing use patterns in society, and advancements in technology and science, chemicals in use diversify. New chemicals have been introduced to commerce constantly, and new compounds or their by-products find a way into our water systems.

As a poor child living in Mexico, it has always been a norm to work in the crop fields. Due to the family financial issues, I would apply and take any job that was available during the seasons. Exactly three years ago I experienced an event that changed the course of my life. On April fourth of two thousand and thirteen, I was accepted for a job that paid one of the highest wages in the fields. As a sixteen-year-old working on the strawberry field spraying pesticides on the crops, I was excited to be able to support my family with money and provide food.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals also known as (EDCs) are hormonal chemicals, known for their alteration or blockage of organism’s hormones. (Trachsel, 2008) Hence, these chemicals are defined as xenobiotics, which refers to foreign bodies or agents to an organism system. (Trachsel, 2008) These EDCs found in aquatic environment have a variety of harm effects on animals, humans and or the ecosystem in general, that can differ the hemostasis due to the elimination of natural occurring hormones in animals or human bodies when they interfere with the synthesis and transportation of hormones that are responsible for growth, development and behavior. (A. Snyder, 2003) On the other hand, we have micropollutants that can found in aquatic and waste

"Exposure to Carcinogenic PAHs in the Environment." Environmental Science & Technology 26.7 (1992): 1278-284. Print.

PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls) and dioxins have been in focus recently as there are concerns that the different structures are appearing to mimic the effects of female oestrogenic hormones. (Gray 1996) These chemicals can cause genetic chromosomal problems and major concerns to the reproductive effectiveness of marine animals. Oil spills and the burning of wood and coal can cause poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which has a negative effect on all wildlife causing genetic abnormalities. (EMCBTAP-ENVIS Newsletter 2002).

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.