unit 2 - environment, water, and health

Question 1

environmental pollution and health

Answer 1

Environmental degradation is everywhere
* Children, people in poverty, people of color most
vulnerable
Increased amount of synthetic chemicals
* Many are not properly tested
Presence of petrochemicals
U.S. government as a major environmental
polluter
* Radioactive hazards
* Manufacture of weapons

Question 2

health impact of environmental pollution

Answer 2

• Forty percent of deaths worldwide are due to environmental degradation
• Bioaccumulation of toxins in the food chain
• The mental burden of living with such risks can cause generalized stress
  and emotional ill health
• Children (cancer, poor lung functioning later in life)
• Low-income neighborhoods (disproportionate exposure)

Question 3

looking upstream - production

Answer 3

Toxic waste by-product or end product
Dumping of toxic wastes
The use of explosive and/or poisonous
materials in the production of stuff
The leakage of chemicals into the water or
soil
We are a consumer-driven society and
consumption patterns are increasing

Question 4

brownfields

Answer 4

a property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the
presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or
contaminant.

Question 5

limited knowledge of environmental health

Answer 5

• lack of research
• limited powers in the toxic substances and control act
• knowledge first begins with community reports (for example flint, MI water crisis)

Question 6

corporate strategies that harm health

Answer 6

• Publication of research studies that declare little or no
  harm from toxic chemicals
• Criticizing scientists
• Product defense
• Global warming and climate change

Question 7

what is climate change?

Answer 7

• Climate change is a change in the usual weather found in a place. This
  could be a change in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it
  could be a change in a place’s usual temperature for a month or season.
• Most scientists say that humans can change climate too. People drive cars.
  People heat and cool their houses. People cook food. All those things take
  energy. One way we get energy is by burning coal, oil and gas. Burning
  these things puts gases into the air. The gases cause the air to heat up.

Question 8

by 2020,

Answer 8

models project that global
Surface temperature will be more than
0.5°C (0.9°F) warmer than the 1986-2005
average, regardless of which
carbon dioxide emissions pathway
the world follows

Question 9

climate effects on health

Answer 9

• Increasing ground-level ozone and/or particulate matter air pollution in
  some locations
• Potentially lead to both higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen
  seasons
• Wildfires, temperature extremes, and precipitation extremes
• Diseases carried by vectors
• Diarrheal diseases, including salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis, are
  more common when temperatures are higher

Question 10

the governments impact

Answer 10

The influence of lobbying groups
Industry is extremely powerful and
pushes legislation that makes it difficult
for federal agencies to establish and
enforce regulations
International agreements on health

Question 11

water and health

Answer 11

• Global issue: many households do not have access to clean, safe drinking
  water
• Water covers about 70 percent of the Earth, but only 1 percent is
  drinkable
• Drought continues to be a problem
• Disparities by race/ethnicity to access to safe drinking water or basic
  sanitation
• As a result: exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses
• Main cause of water insecurity? POLLUTION

Question 12

who pollutes the water

Answer 12

Industrial agriculture mostly from
manure produced in CAFOs and
increasing amounts of pesticides,
herbicides, and fertilizers
Energy industry
Extraction and
transportation of
energy (oil, coal,
and natural gas)
Other industries The production
of plastics

Question 13

improving water quality and scarcity

Answer 13

The Clean Water Act (CWA)
was passed in 1972 to
improve waterways and
drinking water in the United
States
* Resulted in decreasing
industrial pollution,
maintaining wetlands
* Non-compliance was an
issue
Treating the water supply as
a commodity
* Bottled water became the
solution but also has
inherent health risks

Question 14

conclusion

Answer 14

• Address the water-based injustice occurring in the United States
• The demand for water is exceeding the supply
• Evaluate existing policies for effectiveness; create new policies if needed
• Perform additional research looking at the links between exposure to toxins and health
• In both environmental health and water and health > look at the upstream factors