What's Going on With the Environment..

There are three sewage treatment facilities in San Francisco. They are the North Point Wet Water Facility, the Oceanside Treatment Plant, and the Southeast Treatment Plant. The North point facility is only active during wet weather. The Oceanside treatment plan handles 20% of the city's flow and the southeast treatment plant handles 80% of the city's flow. 

My nationwide campaign would be "Tap Into The Tap" and the whole campaign would focus on how we should "tap" into the tap water and use it more often. It would have flyers showing statistics about how much more expensive bottled water is and also how most people like the taste of tap water more than bottled water. I also think that by revealing how bad bottled water is for the environment we can show people why using tap water is so much better than bottled water. I would also offer free reusable water bottles for those who need it, that way they will have no excuse about why the need to bottled water. Finally, I would say all the things you could buy with the money you saving on not buying bottle water, like new clothes or a vacation!

The major source of water originates from the spring snowmelt that flows down the Tuolumne River into the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The water in the Hetch Hetchy reservoir is exempt from filtration requirements. According to the CCR there is a very high amount of copper in our water which I did not expect and other chemicals like Haloacetic acid. Consumption of copper has associated health risks such as nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps and can lead to liver and Kidney problems.  I actually do use a filter for our water. My house uses a Brita filter and we usually only drink the water once it has been filtered and not straight out of the sink/tap. The reason we do this is not because we are scared of the quality of SF water but because our house is extremely old and we are unsure of the quality of our pipes so we don't want to take any unnecessary health risks. I think we are trying to filter out any excess metals in the water like lead or copper. I do not drink ...

The Clean Water Act (CWA) was the first main law enacted to prevent water pollution in the United States. Before this act was adopted around 60% of all the water in the U.S. was considerable not fishable and swimmable. In fact, three years before the CWA passed the Cuyahoga river in Cleveland was so polluted that it caught on fire. The main goals of the CWA were to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation's waters.  The CWA made things a lot better for the U.S. and now a majority of water in the United States is safe to swim, drink and fish out of. This is extremely important to me because I grew up swimming in the ocean and lakes. I could not imagine a world in which I was unable to do those activities. Also, water activities are huge pass times for Americans and life would not be the same here without clean water. We also live in a developed nation and we probably would not be as successful as a nation without clean water. I'm glad...

Urea formaldehyde -  This chemical is usually associated with respiratory problems such as: difficulty breathing, burning sensation in throat, wheezing and coughing, and nose irritations. However, there are other health effects such as fatigue, skin rash, sever allergic reactions and watery eyes. In homes whether the concentration of urea formaldehyde is very high there is an increased risk of cancer.  Bleach -  The most common health effects from bleach are irritation of the skin, eyes and throat. If bleach is in direct contact with skin it can cause skin irritation, burning and damage. I f inhaled bleach can cause damage to lungs and organs, and respiratory problems such as coughing, wheezing and lightheadedness.  Bleach should also not be consumed as it is consider to be extremely toxic. Both of these chemicals are common in houses and should be handled with caution. Bleach is a very common cleaning product that many people deem as safe. Howev...

There should be an awareness campaign about  lung cancer associated with radon because  around 21,000 excess deaths occur annually. To bring awareness to this issue there should be a national day dedicated to radon education and testing. Then, if people's homes were found to be unsafe from the testing the government should provide a subsidy to help people bring their homes down to safe levels. This subsidy could dramatically help people of lower socioeconomic status because for some people, even if they are aware that their housing is unsafe they do not have the means to fix the problem. Finally, the government could provide free kits to communities that can be handed out on national radon awareness day. 

Well let me start off by saying I live in London. One of the best things about London is their public transportation. I take the tube (The Underground) almost everyday and the bus around 1 - 2 times a week. I think the transportation is fantastic and it faster to take the tube anywhere in London that it is to drive. I think the availability of public transportation can really aid people of lower socioeconomic status and helps bring some equality to the city. However, the air quality in London is terrible. In 2017, it was found that 7.9 million Londoners (around 95% of the population) live in areas that exceed the limit by more than 50%. This can be attributed to many factors but one of the big ones is transportation. There is simply and enormous amount of cars and buses driving around on a daily basis. I think about my health in the air frequently, especially when I can going on a run to Hyde park and I get a face-full of emissions/smoke from a bus. I also have never...

Zip Code: 92064   Community: San Diego County  Here are the top polluters in my zip code: As you can see many of them are from the armed forces. San Diego has a very big military population. Other polluters are steel corporations and Sony electronics.  Good news though because only 1% of homes have a high risk of lead-based paint! Superfund sites are areas of land that are identified by the EPA as having hazardous waste that can pose a risk to human health and the environment. There is only one is San Diego County and that is at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. A lot of the contaminates are related to fuel oils used for training purposes. However, it has been participating in a an Installation Restoration Program since 1978.  Unfortunately San Diego county is among the 10% for direst/worst air in the United States. The air quality index is terrible and only 44% of days have good air quality.  San Diego also ranks among t...

The truth is racism occurs beyond just people having prejudices towards each other.  Racism can also affect people's environments, thus affecting their health. An example of this is with African-American populations. Throughout American history there have been numerous stories about corporations targeting areas near black communities to dump their toxic chemicals and waste. There has been some strides to change these unforgivable acts against our fellow Americans like President Clinton's executive order #12898, but of course acts of environmental racism still occur.  This relates to social determinants of health because people cannot chose what color their skin is or where they live. This means they are more likely to be exposed to hazardous or unhealthy situations based on something they have no control over. These people can even sometimes been seen has unequal to other citizens or have bias brought upon them because they are not white. Black Lives Ma...

Some of the most susceptible people to hazardous environmental exposures are people of low socioeconomic status. One of the major issues with this is the fact that many of them cannot change their environment and can't afford to move to areas where they are not exposed to dangerous chemicals. Yes, there are some services out there to help these people but many of them do not know they are being effected by these chemicals or that they could get help to change their situation. It is a cycle that is very hard to break. The people with some of the hardest lives are exposed to some of the most dangerous chemicals. It should be our duty as a strong developed nation to do everything in our power to protect this people and to not protect corporate America. Too often we give passes on large companies who have strong lobbyists. This is causing long-term detrimental affects on our citizens.  The effects of harmful exposures can have life-long effects. If you were expose...

If a doctor where to give me these results I would feel very frightened. I would be scared for my health and wellbeing and I would question the repercussions from having these chemicals in my body. I would also feel slightly betrayed by the fact there are not efficient laws in place to protect me from these chemicals. Also, I would worry about my family and friends and if they are exposed to potentially dangerous chemicals. I would want them to get tested and to also be more mindful in their actions.  I would also wonder how it is possible that chemicals like DDT and PCBs (that were outlawed in the 1970's) were found in my blood stream. It makes you think back to all the times you knew you were ingesting bad chemicals and all the times that you didn't know that you were ingesting bad chemicals. I would also wonder about other chemicals that could be in my body that are not deemed dangerous yet. Companies do not have to prove a new chemical is safe so the...

Windex Window Cleaner This product scored very low on the health effects, it got 0's across the board:  This was very surprising to me because I thought that all cleaning products would pose some sort of health effects. However, it does say that this product is not subject to reporting so this could be a reason.  Lysol All-Purpose Complete Clean with Bleach  This product did have a health rating of 3, which is considered serious: I believe this product poses a serious health risk because it contains bleach. When looking through the ratings of this product there were a lot of health warning about ingesting and general contact with the product. However, I always wear gloves when using this product and I make sure there is good ventilation in the area I am cleaning so I am not constantly breathing in the fumes.  I wouldn't say that looking up these products will make me change my habits of using this but I would like to opt for a more natura...

Nivea Essentially Enriched Body Lotion  This was the first product I looked up and it received a score of 3 on the EWG's skin deep website. Here is how the product scored: Overall, as you can see, the risk is not too high and I was relieved to find that it posed no cancer or developmental and reproductive toxicity risks. This definitely brought me a little bit of relief because I use lotion every single day (I have very dry skin) and I'm in the habit of putting on lotion after every shower.  I actually stopped using lotion for about a year and just used almond oil or jojoba oil on my skin because I was worried about the amount of chemicals I was putting on my body, especially because I was using lotion and it soaks into your skin rather than washing off. Even though this product received a 3, it worries me and now I am debating about switching back to all natural oils and calling it quits with the lotion. The only reason I started using...