This is so serious that Canada has charged the U.S. For ruining some of its lakes.
Currently, rain has 10 times the normal acidity rate in most of the northeastern parts of the United States
PCB's (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) are waxy substances that were previously used as coolants, but now banned because of their cancer-causing properties and difficulty in disposal
PBBs (Polybrominated biphenyls) are potent and have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of cattle.
EDBs (Ethylene dibromide) is a pesticide that was finally banned but used extensively in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Antibiotics from urine and waste enter the water table and are stored in plant and animal tissues -- when humans or animals ingest them, they cause bacteria to mutate and become immune from their effects; resulting in the need for higher doses and newer chemicals to fight disease.
Lead is now considered a problem in many areas, largely due to old and inadequate plumbing systems.
While many cities and towns have taken steps to reduce bacteria and lead, their use of other chemicals has caused an increase in...
While one area is improved, another seems to suffer.
Rivers and other water sources are being increasingly polluted via ground water and run off from industry and, ironically, livestock farms -- particularly swine, who have high concentrations of ammonia in their urine.
The Land
Chemical Dumps have been part of the hazardous waste problem for decades, with almost 80,000 landfills in the U.S. alone -- also contributing to groundwater
pollution as toxins are washed into the soil from trash dumps
In a random sample of 39 U.S. cities, the most common pollutant in groundwater was trichloronethylene, a product of industrial and home wastes placed in landfills
Landfills have an extraordinarily high level (almost 60%) of non-compliance with EPA rules; septic tanks and cesspools are the largest polluters of
land and the most frequent source of fecal, toxic, and poison contamination
Insecticides and herbicides do not magically disappear once they are used, but leech into the ground water and are taken up by
plants and animals and sometimes remaining toxic for decades.
Source:
Bechtel, R. (1997). Environment and Behavior: An Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
