The Environmental Hazards of Chemical Pollution

Chemical pollution exists. Some right-leaning people would like to deny this exists. This type of pollution can affect soil, water, and the air itself. Organic pollutants serve as endocrine disruptors, from "Environmental Protection: What Everybody Needs To Know" by Pamela Hill (16), because “endocrine disruptors are substances that interfere with the endocrine system, the system responsible for regulating hormones throughout the body. They are associated with reproductive and developmental problems” (17). Chemical pollution from chemicals such as DDT is rampant in our society right now. Nobody is doing anything about it since the scientists who study this have their hands tied up along with their funding.

Chemical pesticide use is something that contributes horribly to the state of our planet right now. Chemicals do seep into our soil, water supply, and our food (The World Counts). The chemicals eventually find their way into our water supply as well as the food we eat. Our transportation systems such as planes, cars, and trains run on fossil fuels in the form of petroleum. There is also pollution in the ocean. Seafood is contaminated with pollutants often enough, but we do not know the extent of this contamination.

The state of the environment ought to keep people awake at night but there are limited jobs working on environmental solutions. Everybody is too busy trying to make money. Even our animals have chemicals laced into their bodies, besides humans. Chemical pollution is what makes everybody sick, after all. There are limited solutions to our environmental problems because we have mercury in our oceans as well, since the greatest exposure to mercury comes from “the fish we eat, and third, this can affect developing fetuses” (54). Fish is poisoned thoroughly because we so heavily pollute our oceans. Very little is being done about environmental problems because of the current administration’s policies.

We need to start finding solutions to our environmental problems. We need to sort them out now. Landfills eventually get filled up despite the growing tradition of recycling which has only sprung up in the last 30 years. Some people do dedicate their time to work on such environmental problems and yet there is so much that can be done in a day. Factories still do not dispose of hazardous waste properly, because this issue has been a fact of life since the invention of the Industrial Revolution when the factory began.

Pesticides seep into our groundwater as they spray non-organic fruits and vegetables. It must be realized by our politicians that the environment is a growing problem. Fossil fuels cause pollution but the elite wants to keep this system going. They do not want to convert to waterpower, ethanol or electric. They want to dig their own graves until the problems get resolved. The victims of pollution are the whole human race. We let this happen all the time without doing anything about it. So reader, do you want to start doing something about it?

Chemical pollution can as mentioned, seep into the soil. Construction sites also cause soil pollution as can demolition (Sciencing.com). There are environmental organizations out there that are dedicated to doing something about the pollution problem: for example, the Rainforest Action Network, whose mission it is to preserve forests, and protect the climate. Do not waste your time with Greenpeace, since they use strong-armed manhandling practices that do not get much done in the long run. Sometimes some companies actually have a vision of all rights being respected. They believe in protecting biodiversity also (RAN). See what you can do; join the Sierra Club over other organizations.

Works Cited

Hill, Pamela. Environmental Protection: What Everybody Needs To Know. Oxford University Press, 2017.

https://www.ran.org/mission_and_values

https://sciencing.com/define-chemical-pollution-6027793.html

http://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/What_is_Chemical_Pollution).