The two main things every living creature needs in order to survive, are the most contaminated.
Take a guess…
That would be air and water.
In a recent blog post, I wrote about how the warm winter caused our plants to go into a “heat stress” and over pollinate, ultimately causing Asthma attacks and allergies from hell. At the beginning of spring, my 6-month-old, (at the time) was in and out of the ER due to difficulty breathing. It was at our second visit when the doctor informed us that she had many patients with the same problem and that this was simply the worst allergy and Asthma season yet.
In addition to the allergies from hell, our environment has many effects on human health. This goes for both long-term and short-term — which is one of the many reasons to take care of the environment.
In order to complete this project, I submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Health and Human Services to obtain documentation on the statistics of pollution and human health. They responded rather quickly, but stated that they had no such records, to which I immediately questioned. Anyway, I continued my research elsewhere.
According to The World Counts, the most common forms of pollution that have the biggest impact on human health are both water and air pollution. Contamination, along with oil spills, are ruining our oceans and wildlife. The polluted air we breathe in daily is harmful in more ways than one. See my infographic below.
Just last month Lover’s Point, in Pacific Grove, was contaminated with over 220,000 gallons of raw sewage. MRWPCA workers claim to have been running maintenance on old pipes when a valve failed. The sewage leaked for 6 hours. There is no way to filter the ocean, so the only way to kill the bacteria was to let the sun do its job.
In addition to contamination, oil spills are quite common along the California coast.
Let’s not forget about contaminated drinking water.
There is no doubt that we need to make a serious change in order save our environment, as well as our health. The Bay Area Quality Management District is a local resource with tips and information on the Bay Area air quality. You can also check out this downloadable fact sheet with 50 ways to help limit air and water pollution.
Remember, the change begins with you.
Larena Hernandez 