Blog 4- Sarah Pearson- Chemicals and dioxins in our trashed environment

            The documentary ‘Trashed” did a good job of showing how the world’s trash is causing serious health problems. It talked about how we are creating more waste than ever before and how we need to create action to slow the process of pollution on our fragile environment. This documentary pointed out the fact that we used to bury our trash a long time ago and the material would most likely break down over time. But now our waste is so toxic, it doesn’t break down. It’s scary to think of all the toxic chemicals that are in the items we use everyday.

            The video talked about dioxins and how they eventually get back to humans. Burning organic chemicals and plastics that contain chlorine creates dioxins. As the video showed, poorly filtered incinerators release high levels of dioxins that are extremely unhealthy to the whole community nearby. Even well filtered incinerators don’t capture all the dioxins and chemicals, some of them go into the air. It basically shows that air pollution doesn’t make waste go away. When you burn trash, you release chemicals into the air that eventually fall down. When they fall down they get into the water supply and animals drink this water. So then you have a case of animals keeping these types of chemicals including dioxin in their fat. Animals keep dioxin more in their body than humans. We eat animals and we have their milk and meat, so the cycle of chemicals comes back to us. What’s scary is that humans can’t get rid of dioxins. The only time humans are able to get rid of dioxins is when women are pregnant and they are giving their child breast milk. That dioxin that has been building up throughout the course of that women’s life is transferring to the baby through breast milk. And breast milk is still the way to go, but it is more of a threat because of our current environmental disaster. It’s unfortunate that one of the most natural forms of nurturing is being transformed into a chemical transfer to youth. It shouldn’t be that way.

            The video went on to explain extreme forms of dioxin levels and its affects on people. The video talked about the generations of Vietnam following the spraying of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.  Agent Orange was used to get rid of foliage. When you are using something that completely wipes out foliage, you have to use common sense on what that does to the human body.  The generations of Vietnam people living in these villages near the spraying after all these years are experiencing extreme health issues. Among these issues are thousands of cases of birth defects, cancer, and multiple other health affects. Though these are extreme forms of dioxin levels, it shows that we mustn’t let our populations be exposed to more dioxin than they are now. My Uncle Johnny was in the Vietnam War and he experienced health affects after spraying the Agent Orange in Vietnam. He had cancer, serious skin problems, and he couldn’t reproduce. If we continue to allow the population to be exposed to such levels of such chemicals, we will have future problems with things like birth defects, cancer, chromosomal change, and multiple other health affects.

            I thought about the Love Canal story when the video talked about consequences of dioxins. The Love Canal is one of the worst stories of toxic waste in United States history. The Hooker Chemical Company used a dug up canal that was originally supposed to be apart of Niagara Falls, and poured in toxic chemicals into the ground in the 1940s and early 1950s. The dumping ground was then buried. A school bought the land for $1 and built a school on top of the ground with the hazardous waste. A neighborhood was also built not far from the where the chemicals were dumped. Chemicals started getting into people’s homes and properties, children had skin rashes, there were multiple cases of miscarriages and birth defects, etc. People closest to the hazardous ground as well as pregnant women and children under the age of two were relocated while other families were essentially trapped in a hazardous nightmare. Lois Gibbs, a Love Canal housewife, got the homeowners association to fight. They eventually kidnapped two EPA officials and demanded they be relocated elsewhere. They demanded it wasn’t safe to live in the Love Canal. The Love Canal Residents eventually won their battle. It was very stressful and scary for homeowners. The chemicals caused cancer, birth defects, chromosomal damage, epilepsy, learning handicaps, and multiple other health defects among former residents. The Love Canal is just another example of how chemicals and dioxins aren’t healthy for human beings. What’s scary is that the Love Canal homes were sold again 30 years later for low market prices. State and EPA officials keep telling people that it is safe now to live there, but you can’t just get rid of 20,000 chemicals just like that. What homeowners faced 35 years ago is what they are facing now. The battle of Love Canal continues. The amount of chemicals in the world today is scary.  

New York Times. The Love Canal Disaster: Toxic Waste in the Neighborhood | Retro Report | (2013). Retrieved January 9, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjobz14i8kM