The article ‘A Rising Tide of Contaminants’ is about the alarming increase of chemicals and substances in the water bodies. The author, Deborah Blum, discusses the major reasons for the increase in the contaminants in the lakes and how the government should act for this issue. The two main reason for the increasing contaminants in the lakes is the unregulated increase of pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals and the lack of federal government actions regarding chemical exposures. Scientists are suspecting that the production of the new pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals are contaminating the water bodies through water sewage system. The author’s main objective in the article is to persuade the readers that the issue about the increasing contaminants in the water bodies is alarming and the government should take action before the environment is damaged due to chemical pollution.
Dr. Deborah Swackhamer is a leading expert in the study of the emerging contaminants in the lakes. She found out that there are new substances and chemicals that could be found in the rivers and lakes as contaminants which could affect the lives of the living organisms. Unusual substances such as caffeine and acetaminophen could be observed in the rivers and lakes at a relatively high concentrations. These are unusual since these chemicals should be avoided to contaminate the water bodies by the regulation of the law. This observation is a sign that chemicals and substances contaminate the water bodies in a very fast rate.
The American Chemical Society is also concerned about the increase in the amount of new chemical compounds that are now available in the market. These new chemical compounds are registered for commercial use although its effect in contaminating the water bodies are not yet understood. Since most of the old chemicals contaminate the water bodies even if their sources are not known, these new chemical compounds could also contaminate the lakes and the rivers before the scientists found it.
Researchers and scientists are also concerned about the dangers of the old chemical compounds for altering the environment. The chemical compound polychlorinated biphenyls are one of the major dangers that is studied by most of the scientists. They are concerned about the plants degrading the compounds which will result into more hazardous chemical and could alter the environment. They are also alarmed to the fact that these chemicals are not allowed for commercial use but it could be found in the water bodies as contaminants.
Aside from the increase in the emergence of new chemical compounds, the lack of government action is also one of the major reasons for the contamination of the water bodies. The Toxic Substances Control Act is the one that regulates the use and production of chemical compounds in the United States. However, it is not changed or modified since its creation which is about forty years ago. The author argues that the federal government should take action in the regulation of the new chemical compounds as they could contaminate the water bodies. Although the federal state lack action for the issue, the researchers and scientists are finding ways assess the contamination in the lakes and the rivers. Although there are many new chemical compounds to study, they will start with the existing data about the old chemical compounds.
The major scientific argument of the author is about the dangers of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs could cause cancer to humans. It is banned for commercial use and production. However, the plants that break down PCBs into more hazardous chemicals are not yet understood and concluded (US Environmental Protection Agency, nd). This scientific claim is a hypothesis since these chemicals are very rare to be contaminant in the waters.
The social argument presented by the author is about the emergence of the contaminants in the waterways, landfills and municipal sewage sludge. The emergence of this chemicals in the public waste system suggests that people are participating in the disposal of the hazardous and toxic chemicals. It also suggests that the contamination of the lakes and the rivers are also caused by society and not only the industries. The major political argument of the authors is about the Toxic Substances Control Act which is not modified since its creation. The act assess and records the chemical substances that is commercially produced. However, they lack the action for the regulation of the new chemical substances and the assessment of its effect on the environment (US Environmental Protection Agency, nd).
The issue about the increasing contaminants in the lakes and the rivers could affect our way of life. The article suggests that we, as human beings, are responsible for the disposal of these chemicals in the water bodies. We should always be aware of the effects of these chemicals that they disposed especially to the bodies of water. This is an alarming issue since the people, including me, are also relying on the bodies of water for food, irrigation and for leisure. Contamination of these bodies of water also means alteration of the way of the life of the citizens.
Works Cited:
Blum, Deborah. A rising tide of contaminants. The New York Times. 2014. Web. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/a-rising-tide-of-contaminants/?ref=health.
US Environmental Protection Agency. Summary of Toxic Substances Control Act. Web. http://www2.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-toxic-substances-control-act.
US Environmental Protection Agency. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). Web. http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastemin/minimize/factshts/pcb-fs.pdf.
