In chapter one of Protecting New Jersey's Environment, cancer and other serious diseases were discussed. The author mentions the discovery of high cancer rates, especially during the Nixon administration. He called for a "war on cancer", which resulted in many environmental laws and the creation of the EPA. Many people do not realize how environmental factors play a role in human health, especially when exposed to life threatening toxins over many years. Breathing and interacting with these chemicals on a daily basis can have a devastating effect. The author was inspired to change career paths to work with health issues, especially epidemiology, after her brother passed away from leukemia.
Studies did show that populations closer to major cities with more industrial technology were at a higher risk of getting cancer. During the 70's and 80's, there was little to no research done on pollution. Technology and awareness in the field lacked, which did not help those trying to prove environmental factors played a role in causing cancer. It is hard to test air for pollution, especially since changes in the environment take decades to see, not to mention technology to do this is costly. Groundwater was tested and this came back as having dangerous carcinogens that could hurt human health. Surveys were eventually mandatory to record toxins being emitted into the air by companies. After scientific research came back positive when causing cancer and other diseases, New Jersey was one of the first states to pass legislation that regulated pollution. This then educated the public on new findings and advised them that living closer to landfills, factories and hazardous waste sites were more inclined to cause childhood cancer, since young bodies are still developing. Although state legislation is obviously only effective within state borders, New Jersey passing environmental acts persuaded others to do the same. With the public being educated and being more aware about the issue, this caused more outrage and protesting for change.
1 Comment
week 2 project preliminary examination: 1/31/18 For my blog entry this week, the information published is similar to the overview I gave last week about what data is collected and why. The Rahway River measures 24 miles long, so data collected in one region may not be the same as another location. One region we will be collecting data from is the South Mountain Reservation, which is the West Branch. As mentioned before, we will be collecting data from at least two locations to compare what we find.
An excel sheet of discrete data was given to my group to exam exactly what the samples we collect will be tested for. This excel sheet dates way back to 1998 to present time. Surface water is tested since the water site is a river. This means that water is above the ground and is not received through aquifers. Both surface water and groundwater are at risk of being polluted, one is not more vulnerable than the other. Stagnate surface water is more dangerous though since mosquito's and other insects are attracted to this and can cause diseases such as malaria. Temperature, pH, hardness, dissolved oxygen, depth, flow, chlorophyll, ammonia, iron, sulfur, phosphate and chloride are just a handful of categories tested in the lab. It is important to record this data so scientists can see if water pollution and certain levels are at healthy for human consumption and safe for organisms to live in. We can compare data from 1998 to 2018 and see if human activities are causing levels to change over the 20 year time period. The latitude and longitude of the area tested is also important, so the results are pinpointed to an exact area if that needs monitoring. NJDEP tested 10 sites throughout the state to make sure results were as accurate as possible. |
|