Original Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=toxic-waste-sites-take-toll-millions-poor-nations
Exposure to toxic waste and chemicals cause serious
health problems for people in countries across the globe. The problem is most
widespread in developing areas of countries such as India, the Philippines, and
Indonesia. Two new studies on this topic uncovered alarming results that show
just how much of an effect toxic waste can have on the health of the people
exposed to it.
These studies showed that living near toxic sites can
cause health issues and defects to everyone exposed. The authors estimate that
“more than eight million persons in these countries suffered disease,
disability or death resulting from exposures to industrial contaminants in 2010.”
They analyzed what effects exposure to chemicals such as lead could have on
children living around hazardous sites. They believe that this could cause
elevated blood levels beyond what is considered safe, and in 2010 almost
800,000 children were exposed to lead at 200 different sites.
In biology class
this year we watched Dr. Seuss’s The
Lorax, an animated movie about a man that doesn’t care about the world
around him, and only worried about what’s best for his business. This movie
focuses on what can happen when people are careless about the effects they are
having on the people and the environment. In this same way, toxic waste sites
can be hazardous to not only the people living around it, but also the animals
and plants as well.
Picture Citation: http://martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/aug2009/toxic-waste-dumping.html
Great job Makena! The picture really caught my eye and it was perfect for the article that you chose! I found this topic interesting and you did a great job explaining it and adding in facts. you mentioned that it is very serious, is anyone coming up with ideas to stop it or help decrease this problem? I am interested to find out. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your summary Makena!! Same as Celina, I was scrolling up and down the class blog and your picture made me stop. I loved when you said that “more than eight million persons in these countries suffered disease, disability or death resulting from exposures to industrial contaminants in 2010.” because it seems to be very true. People see these things happen everyday right in front of their faces, yet they are to stuck up to change it until it happens to them. In your summary, you mention that this topic is very serious, which it is, but like Celina said, is anyone trying to come up with a way to stop it? Is there some doctor/scientist out there trying to come up with a way to prevent so much toxic waste? I love learning about these things and I feel like they are so interesting. Your summary only helped that feeling grow. Great job with this blog!
ReplyDeleteNice job Makena! I think that this is a very interesting topic that I have not heard much about. I agree with you that this topic should be made well known to many more people around the world because many people who may be unaware of this extremely hazardous problem and how many millions of people it is affecting. I also think that if more people knew about it, there might be more research being done on how to reduce and try to stop this problem. I think that you made a great connection to the way the businesses affecting the environment in The Lorax relate to the toxic wastes affecting the environment in the article. My question is how close are the affected people living to the toxic waste? Is it possible to have people evacuate those areas until there is a way to solve the problem or is it too big of an area to evacuate?
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