Polluted Water And Your Vital Organs

The human body is over 65% water. We drink it. We bathe in it. We water our crops with it. Water is a foundation of human life. And yet, more and more chemicals are getting into our ground water. People are getting sick, and even dying from it. How this happened and what we can do to prevent these issues in the future are a few of the topics readers will discuss as they take a look at the incredibly disgusting issue of water pollution and contamination—and what impact it is having on human life and the environment.

In the early 1980s, two water-supply systems on the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were found to be contaminated with the industrial solvents trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). The water systems were supplied by the Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point watertreatment plants, which served enlisted-family housing, barracks for unmarried service personnel, base administrative offices, schools, and recreational areas. The Hadnot Point water system also served the base hospital and an industrial area and supplied water to housing on the Holcomb Boulevard water system (full-time until 1972 and periodically thereafter). This book examines what is known about the contamination of the water supplies at Camp Lejeune and whether the contamination can be linked to any adverse health outcomes in former residents and workers at the base.

Author Laurie Collier Hillstrom focuses on the how pollution impacts both human health as well as environmental health. This book discusses the types of pollution, increased awareness of pollution, and the negative consequences it has on health. Full-color photographs and diagrams, a glossary, sources for further reading and research, and a detailed subject index are also included.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been considering a more stringent regulation of arsenic in water. A significant reduction in the maximum contaminant level (MCL) could increase compliance costs for water utilities. This book discusses the adequacy of the current EPA MCL for protecting human health in the context of stated EPA policy and provides an unbiased scientific basis for deriving the arsenic standard for drinking water and surface water. Arsenic in Drinking Water evaluates epidemiological data on the carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health effects of arsenic exposure of Taiwanese populations and compares those effects with the effects of arsenic exposure demonstrated in other countries—including the United States. The book also reviews data on toxicokinetics, metabolism, and mechanism and mode of action of arsenic to ascertain how these data could assist in assessing human health risks from arsenic exposures. This volume recommends specific changes to improve the toxicity analyses and risk characterization. The implications of the changes for EPA’s current MCL for arsenic are also described.

This book details the state-of-the art in early warning monitoring of anthropogenic pollution of soil and water. It is unique with regard to its complex, multidisciplinary, mechanistic approach. Top scientists establish links and strengthen weak connections between specific fields in biology, microbiology, chemistry, biochemistry, toxicology, sensoristics, soil science and hydrogeology.