All animals need water and air to live, and the pollutants that exist in them often do not leave the tissues of the consuming animal. Compounds like mercury and lead are absorbed by animals further down on the food chain and are collected in higher and higher levels as each animal is consumed on its way up the food chain (ADEQ, 2009). With humans on the top of this food chain, it is easy to see how all of the aggregate mercury contamination in Arizona's fish and cattle populations would end up pooling in the human population. Soil contamination affects everyone for generations to come, since homes and businesses will likely be built on mine tailings and other polluted areas of land in the future. These soil contaminants have to be removed from the soil manually, which is very expensive and time-consuming. There is much evidence that Arizona has started to reverse the effects of a century of mining, farming, ranching, and coal-powered energy production. But the...

The infrastructure and technology is in place for the state to begin to see some real positive results, and the permitting and waste clean up that has begun to occur has certainly put a positive dent in this very negative situation. Public transportation and other community-based projects will likely become part of Arizona's future, and help the pollution problem in the state as well (UPI, 2009).
Works Cited

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Homepage. Web. 3 Dec 2009. .

Arizona Department of Health Services Homepage. Web 3 Dec 2009.

Arizona PIRG Homepage. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.

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Chambers, Nick. "Arizona Project Uses Algae to Turn Coal Pollution into Biofuel." Gas2.0. September 17, 2009. Web. 3 Dec. 2009.

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McKinnon, Shaun. "CO2 pollution soars in Ariz., new study says." Arizona Republic. Nov 13, 2009.

Pima County Department of Environmental Quality Homepage. "Air Info Now." Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

UPI. "Arizona's Growth Fueled by Air Pollution." United Press International Journal. 13, Nov, 2009. Web. 3. Dec 2009. .