Links found between lead exposure and violent crime

Links found between lead exposure and violent crime

This week’s article is about a study in Australia that has found a link between exposure to lead and violent crime.  It starts in the town of Boolaroo, which is located in New South Wales, Australia.  Chad Hinds grew up just 300 meters from the town’s lead and zinc smelter.  Chad suffered from asthma as a child, and later on in his life was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and memory loss.  Sammy Zahran, a Columbia University scientist, has discovered a consistent 20-year time gap between lead pollution and violent crime.   Australian researcher Mark Taylor has also began a study in Australian cities.  He claims that children living in high levels of lead pollution are pre-disposed to violent activity later in life.  Critics say the research is too broad, and there is no evidence that youth exposed to lead are the same people who commit the crimes.  But there is evidence on an individual level of people who are exposed and the likelihood of them engaging in violent crime.  Crime is associated with lower IQ, so researchers are trying to look at the relationship between the two.  Lead also affects the human brain, which could lower a person’s IQ, which leads to engaging in violent crime.  Nevertheless, the impacts of lead exposure are harmful to children and this should not be ignored. 

This is a different kind of pollution than I have blogged about before.  Lead pollution is harmful and does damage to the human brain.  Scientists in Australia as well as the United States are looking deeper into this link between lead exposure in childhood and violent crime later on in life.  It is critical to keep our children away from such harmful exposures, so they can grow into productive citizens of the society.  This article was great because it gave a counter argument of critics saying the studies are too broad.  

Carly Taylor
April 22, 2013 8:43PM

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-09/alarming-link-between-lead-exposure-and-violent-crime/4619168

Blog 10- Still a Tragedy in Ghana- Waste Disposal in Ghana

Ghana’s developing country has a human waste disposal problem that it continues to ignore. Ghana operates below the recommended standards of sanitary practice. In the Volta region of Ghana, Akatsi’s District Assembly, the governing body who are supposed to be following mandates, has contracted with laborers to empty full pit latrines in the city, where they dig boreholes right next to the latrines and empty the contents into the borehole. The laborers, in this article had found a human skull in one of Akatsi’s public toilets. The incident only deepens the concern of the practices of Ghana’s waste disposal, which allows the transfer of waste (liquids and fecal matter) from one place to the next. Akatsi lacks a formal structure of sewage treatment. It is unregulated by the government and the policies that are in place is ignored by government officials like Akatsi’s District Assembly.  If the land where this practice of digging a new hole for the latrine sewage is used for other purposes in the future, the question is raised of what environmental damage is created to ecological health and human health when they dig it up once again? Unfortunately, the transferring process of emptying these latrines is practiced not only in the Volta region but throughout the undeveloped country of Ghana and is just one of many primitive methods of human waste disposal.

More disturbing is the practice in Ghana of waste disposal in its lakes and rivers. The Pra and Densu Rivers are poisoned by large amounts of mercury that is used in the illegal process of alluvial gold. Add insult with the “normal” activity of using the lakes such as Lake Bosumtwi, as a dumping sight and you have health and ecological disaster for inhabitants that use the water for domestic use. The inhabitants ingest this poisoned, mercury laden water, making people sick and spreading disease.

Many areas of Ghana are in crisis due to the unregulated dumping practices in the country.  In the Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast, Central region, “a group of scientists were actually able to “walk” on the lagoon due to the extremely solid state of this lagoon caused by amazingly high levels of pollution.” The thick pollution in this lagoon has been created from the waste from a mechanical shop and piggery in the area of the lagoon. Other examples of highly polluted areas of Ghana include the Essipuon Stadium in the western region of Ghana that has a stench due to the dumping of liquid and solid waste. Also, in the New Takoradi region of Ghana, the sea has turned a different color from all the pollution. The entire Gulf of Guinea threatens the Atlantic Ocean.

Government authorities need to commit to efforts to solve the waste problems of Ghana by enforcing the regulations it imposes for violators. The country is facing ecological disaster if it continues its complacent stance on the issue. Ghana’s inhabitants also are complacent about the dumping in the lakes and rivers in their country. They see dumping as a normal part of life and their domestic lives continue even when the water is contaminated with waste from humans and animals. They cook, bathe and drink the polluted waters. There will need to be a huge push to educate about indiscriminate disposal of waste and how the dumping spreads disease. The inhabitants need to see the benefits to not only the environment but also to their health.

Ghana is a developing country. The poor state of Ghana’s solid waste management system has been compounded by rapid urbanization. Modernizing the infrastructure cannot come fast enough. The country is struggling to keep up with its own growth. A country, like Ghana, is in need of clean potable water, a reliable system of electric power, highways, and a system of waste disposal to sustain its country’s rapid urbanization. To step into the modern industrial world, Ghana will need money and capital to invest in its future. It will need help from the developed industrial countries to identifying the improvements needed on existing dumpsites, the implementation of new technology and the cleanup of the polluted waterways of Ghana.

Thu, Apr 18th, 2013

By Daily Guide Ghana

baaba.lou@gmail.com

By Baaba Eshun-Wilson

http://www.spyghana.com/still-a-tragedy-in-ghana-waste-disposal-in-ghana/

High Levels of Air Pollution in Madrid

Madrid’s High Levels of Air Pollution

This week’s article is about extremely high levels of air pollution in Madrid, Spain.  Residents of Madrid are experiencing toxic pollution from motor vehicles, which is what makes up three-fourths of the total air pollution in the city.  The claim is that pollution levels regularly exceed European mandated levels of gases and particles.  Recent studies have shown that air pollution is linked to cancer and other diseases, so the residents of Madrid are often worried about their health.  In fact, a small increase in particles of air pollution results in an increase in the number of people admitted to the hospital for circulatory and respiratory illnesses.  Researchers are linking two types of particles in air pollution to the populations’ health as a whole and find that the effects of the particles are closely related to the size of the particles. 

Not surprisingly, people with asthma are at great risk living in Madrid.  Pollution is also linked to low birth weight in babies, which was presented in one of my blogs earlier this year.  According to the World Health Organization, air pollution shortens lives by an average of 8.6 months, where people are primarily affected by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and lung cancer. 

To combat this social health issue, city officials of Madrid enacted an air-quality plan last year that calls for low-emission zones and promotion of electric cars, public transportation and bicycle usage.  This plan, if regulated and enforced, should reduce the air pollution in this beautiful Spanish city.   There is controversy over the statistics reporting Madrid’s success in reducing pollution.  They claim to have reduced the sulfur dioxide levels, but many people accuse the government of fixing the data.

Since I have started this blog, I have noticed that many mega cities around the globe suffer from poor air quality, and it is usually caused from the excessive amount of motor vehicles.  Beijing is experiencing toxic level of air pollution because of the overpopulation streets with vehicles letting off toxic omissions.  Madrid is experiencing the same effect.  The streets are becoming more populated with motor vehicles, which results in poorer air quality for the city.  Residents of air polluted cities such as these are put at a greater risk for diseases and cancer.  What are they to do?  The city provides jobs, and most people need to live in or near the city to commute to work.  They do not have the choice to get up and move to a more rural area, with fresh air and not as much pollution.  This would be my ideal solution for reducing my risk of cancer and disease caused by air pollution. 

Carly Taylor

April 12, 2013  3:20 PM

http://www.dw.de/madrid-air-pollution-reaches-alarming-levels/a-16739363

Blog 9- Pollution

Hong Kong's light pollution 'worst in the world'

Light pollution occurs when artificial light intrudes on the nighttime setting. The modern mega-city of Hong Kong, with its dense population, is the world’s worst city for light pollution, says a study from Hong Kong University. The pollution is created from the blaring neon flood lights and billboards of advertising around Hong Kong. The result is that the lights block the night-time starry sky. The worst lights seem to be those that are shot straight into the sky for a dramatic effect. The government has no regulations for this lighting like in other parts of the world because the lights are considered necessary for public safety. The ecological impact that results from the wasteful light pollution has been ecologically damaging to migratory birds and nocturnal animals that depend on light to regulate their lives. The lights of Hong Kong, measure 1000 times international norms. The glare is made worse due to the high levels of air pollution in Hong Kong. The pollution has tiny particles and these particles reflect the glaring light back into our eyes. Add 200 cloudy nights, and there are few places around Hong Kong where you can see the stars at night.

Hong Kong is not the only megacity on earth that has major light pollution problems. Light pollution is a global phenomenon. Look at New York, London, Moscow, Madrid and all the mega-cities in the world. You can see the different images of light pollution just by looking at a Google earth map. When you compare the night sky of the 1950’s to those of now, it is striking how different the sky of 60 years ago looks from today’s glaring sky of light pollution. All of the mega-cities have increased their use of lighting ten-fold. The increased lighting globally has blocked many city skies and this means it has blocked the beauty of the cosmos. This waste of energy contributes to our global warming and produces high energy bills. The light pollution has an adverse effect on the health of animals, plants, humans and the environment. In humans, light pollution can interfere with natural circadian rhythms by preventing the production of melatonin, the chemical that regulates sleep patterns. Low melatonin levels have been linked to increased cancer risks. Night lights disorient hatching sea turtles, migrating birds and nocturnal animals. Lights attract insects, which may in turn interfere with pollination of nocturnal flowers. Light pollution negatively effects our entire global environment.

The night sky in the country looks remarkably different than the sky view near a city. More stars are visible and brighter, and in some remote areas, the Milky Way galaxy extends across the sky from east to west. Sky glow, however is the orange light that we get at night above a town or city that even interferes with how we see the sky at night. Sky glow occurs when artificial light which shines upwards, reflects off clouds and atmospheric particles such as dust and water, causing a ‘scattering’ effect. Although light in the right place, makes urban areas safer and more pleasant to be after dark, if not designed properly, it can also have negative effects. In the design of our global mega-cities, light pollution will need to be regulated and measured to ensure that our global environment is protected from light pollution’s adverse effects.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/21/world/asia/hong-kong-light-pollution

By Peter Shadbolt, CNN

updated 12:55 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2013

Croatia and Montenegro join to prevent sea pollution

Croatia and Montenegro join to prevent sea pollution

In this week blog, I chose a news article that reports on the efforts of Croatia and Montenegro to reduce sea pollution.  The two countries plan to come together in a joint effort of protecting the Adriatic Sea from pollution.  This project was approved by the European Commission, who granted the two countries 616,000 euros to finance the project, which will be split in half between the two countries. 

The main source of pollution in the Adriatic Sea comes from imporper sewage diosposal and sewage leakage. In Montenegro, the main areas of concern are the Bojana River, Bar Port, and Port of Montenegro.  In Croatia, the main area of concern is the Dubrovnok-Neretva municipality, which is close to the Montenegrin border. 

Environmental experts from both countries will bring their environmental protection ideas together to create new and modernized methods of assessing and cleaning up the water.   The local areas around the project sites will be places that receive direct benefits of the project, which include a better environment, cleaner water, and a better economy.  Another goal of the project is to create more awareness of the consequences of pollution, whether it is in the ground, air or water.  There is a need for awareness on how to properly dispose of waste and garbage, so the society can create a cleaner future. 

This sea protection project is a huge step forward in environmental protection.  Pollution in the waterways, including the seas and oceans, can and will have an impact on more than jsut the source country due to wind and currents carrying the pollution.  There is a rise in global awareness of pollution problems, and an increase in the number of people who are “living green”.  However, there are several countries that do not have a public news source or a way to inform people of the negative consequences that pollution has on the environment.  That is where the world needs to focus.  We need to inform people throughout the entire world on how to dispose of waste so we can prevent future pollution and create a cleaner world.   

A weakness of this article is that it does not report in detail on how the project will take action to reduce pollution in the Adriatic Sea.  It would be nice for the reader to know what implication the two countries plan to take in order to reduce and clean up the pollution of the Adriatic Sea. 

 Carly Taylor

April 5, 2013  2:14 PM

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2013/02/28/feature-02

Blog 8 Pollution

Study: Environmental Policies Matter for Growing Megacities

April 4, 2013

In the 1970’s, the U.S. was facing a dramatic growth in GDP (Gross Domestic product), urban population increases and a staggering number of vehicles on highways. This growth brought with it pollution that strained the environment’s fragile ecosystems and the health of the population. The U.S., however, faced the problem and decreased the impact of vehicle emissions in their cities with the Clean Air Act. It requires catalytic converters that reduce tailpipe emissions to be on all vehicles, cars, trucks and buses. In the 1990’s the Clean Air Act was taken further by addressing nitrate and sulfate rain, components of acid rain. Over the past 30 years, since the U.S. Clean Air Act, regulations have dramatically reduced acid rain in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea. In contrast, megacities like those in fast- growing East Asia that have no regulation, lax antipollution rules and lack of enforcement, show a dramatic rise in acid rain. The effects of this acid rain will continue to pollute lakes, rivers, soils and wetlands in these unregulated megacities if something is not done.

Models have been studied to measure the differences in a regulated megacity and one that is not regulated.  As Rao stated, “Our analysis of wet deposition (acid rain) data provides compelling evidence that clean-air policies and enforcement of environmental regulations are profoundly important. Researchers now monitor sites in the U.S. and in Asian cities to collect informative data to measure products of fossil fuel combustion, the nitrates and sulfate emitted by our cars, trucks and buses.

Megacities, like East Asia are dealing with the effects of rapid urban development, increasing emissions from vehicles and acid rain, just like the U.S. was dealing with in the 1970’s with it mass industrialization. Beijing and New Delhi, the emerging industrial megacities will have to address its rapid expansion in the near future that will increase the level of pollution and impact on the environment. Focus will eventually be on Sub-Saharan Africa where industrialization will reach its cities and where increasing economic development will be.

The negative impact of megacities on the environment is directly related to the regulatory controls that are in place to lessen the effects of our growing population and urbanization. The earth’s megacities, created from rapid mass industrialization continue to have staggering environmental impact on the planet’s ecological health. Modern Industrialized Nations, like the U.S. create mass pollution and must be proactive in solving environmental problems created from industry. What matters is the regulation of industry, enforcement of these regulations and finding engineering solutions for all the problems that come with rapid industrialization. The Emerging Industrialized nations will then be able to cope with the environmental problems that develop with megacities.

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2013/04/04/study-environmental-policies-matter-for-growing-megacities/   

License plate restrictions in China to reduce air pollution

License plate restrictions in China to reduce air pollution

China is still in struggle to reduce the amount of air pollution caused by traffic congestion.  This week’s article is about reducing the number of license plates auctioned in order to reduce the amount of cars on the road.  License plate rationing was put into place in order to control and reduce traffic congestion.  The prices of license plates can be very high, with some going for as much as a cheap Chinese car.  This month’s auction contained 9,000 plates, with a cost of nearly $14,500. 

This high price will keep most of the population from gaining a license plate.  Chinese people are saying the time is now to get a license plate, because the price just keeps rising.  Several cities in China are considering ways to reduce air pollution, which include congestion fees, auctions or plate lotteries.  Limited license plates will reduce the number of cars on the road, and will contribute to fixing the terrible air quality in China. 

The root of this traffic congestion problem comes from weak enforcement of traffic laws, lack of parking, and inconvenient public transportation.  Even with Tokyo and New York having more cars per capita than Beijing, this city still has way more traffic congestion.

Reducing traffic congestion in busy cities will greatly help the air quality in China.  If people are limited from buying a license plate, wither because of the high price of the unavailability, there will be less acrs on the road, which contributes to less air pollution.  Peoples cars isn’t the only factor that contributes to the poor air quality.  Public transportation and poor city planning also affect the air quality of China.  If measures aren’t taken to better these factors, the air quality will continue to diminish.   

Carly Taylor

March 22, 2013  4:55 pm

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-ration-license-plates-in-effort-to-curb-traffic-congestion-air-pollution/2013/03/22/bd99ebe6-9313-11e2-8ea1-956c94b6b5b9_story.html

Blog 7- Pollution

The article, “The 10 Most Radioactive Places on Earth”, brings to the forefront the threat that nuclear radiation and toxic waste has in destroying lands and waters across the globe. The first detonation of the “Fat Man” atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the US set the world in motion for nuclear disasters. The horrible truth was realizing that there was a weapon capable of wiping out whole cities and people off of the earth. What was left in its wake was seared land, contaminated waters, death and sickness for people and the children of Japan. The bomb has never been used since then but our Cold War era weapon’s production made from plutonium, has left us with toxic waste dumps of radioactive waste, many already contaminating our water supply, threatening cities, people, wildlife and the earth itself. This is not about missile attacks and nuclear bomb threats from other countries during the Cold War era anymore, but the danger of contaminated nuclear sites left in its wake, those in our own backyard and backyards across the entire earth.

The 10 listed are some of the worst sites of toxic and radioactive waste in the world:

10. Hanford, USA, located in Washington is what is left from the US atomic bomb project that manufactured plutonium for the first nuclear bomb and “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki. The site supplied 60,000 nuclear weapons during the Cold War era. It is now decommissioned, however it is the most contaminated site in the US.

9. The Mediterranean is suspected of being a dumping ground for ships loaded with toxic and radioactive waste. It is believed that the Italian Mafia is charging for the illegal activity and pocketing the profits. An Italian NGO believes there may have been 40 shiploads of this hazardous waste that have disappeared into the Mediterranean since 1994. If the barrels of this waste rust and break open, an environmental disaster will ensue in the sea.

8. The Somalian Coast had barrels of toxic and nuclear waste wash up on its shores during the 2004 tsunami. It is believed to have been dumped there by the illegal activity of the Italian Mafia back in the 1990’s. Not only did the barrels contain toxic nuclear material but also radioactive hospital waste.

7. The industrial complex of Mayak, Russia, in 1957, was the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents. Releasing an explosion of up to 100 tons of radioactive waste, the massive area is now contaminated. It was finally exposed in the 1990’s that the plant had been dumping waste into Lake Karachay, leading to the contamination of the water supply.

6. Sellafield, UK was a plutonium production facility for nuclear bombs and is now located in commercial territory. The facility has had 100’s of accidents and releases, on a daily basis, 800 million liters of contaminated waste into the Irish Sea and considered the most radioactive sea in the world.

5. Siberian Chemical Combine is another contaminated site in Russia and contains 40 years of nuclear waste. Liquid waste is stores in uncovered pools, have poorly maintained containers and underground storage that has the potential to leak into the groundwater. Accidents have led to plutonium going missing and some explosions have spread radiation.

4. The site in Polygon, Kazakhstan is where the Soviet Union tested its nuclear weapons for its atomic bomb projects of the Cold War Era. The site is a record holder for the area with the largest concentration of nuclear explosions in the world. The site closed in 1991 but the impact of radiation exposure is unknown.

3. Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan is listed as one of the top ten polluted sites on Earth by the 2006 Blacksmith Institutes report. The contamination comes from the mining for the materials needed in the processes they entail. The site has 36 dumps of uranium waste, an area prone to earthquakes that could release the toxic material into rivers and contaminating the water by hundreds of thousands of people.

2. Chernobyl, Ukraine is well known as one of the worst nuclear accidents and is still heavily contaminated.  The disastrous accident caused over 6 million people to be exposed to radiation and the deaths eventually are estimated to be from 4,000 to 93,000 people. The accident released 100 times more radiation than the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs.

1. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan was the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The incident caused meltdown of three of the six reactors, leaking radiation into the land and has been detected 200 miles offshore from the Fukushima plant.

It’ll take public consciousness, recognizing that there is a global problem due to nuclear pollution, before the focus will turn to cleaning up the mess we’ve all made in the quest for domination in the world. The ramifications are tremendous and will loom over us for generations. The danger is real. We must turn away from spending money on war and spend those billions and needed trillion of dollars on cleanup efforts across the entire Earth.

http://brainz.org/ten-most-radioactive-places-earth/

Blog 6- Pollution

The Power of Voice: Protesting Oil Sponsorship of the Arts

Posted: 04/03/2013 14:36

 The Southbank Centre in London is the largest single-run arts Centre in the world. On a recent Friday evening, a musical performance was hosted by the Shell Oil Company. During this event, ” The Shell Out Sounds” (SOS), a campaign activist group, disrupted the event using chants and slogans to protest the sponsorship of Shell Oil Company in the British arts. The purpose was to draw attention to the oil industry’s exploitation of land, resources, and people across the world and to shed light on the monetary connection between the corporate giant and London’s Southbank Centre.

Shell-out Sounds (SOS) flash-mobbed the audience during the Shell sponsored musical performance at London’s Southbank Centre. The chant sang their spiritual version of Down the River to Pray, describing the disastrous effects on communities by Shell’s operations. They concluded with the words, "Oh, Shell, not your name; No more oil, no more pain; Oh, Shell not your name; Art not in your name!". The Shell Oil Company is the biggest sponsor of the arts in the UK and SOS wants an end to this relationship. SOS speaks of how Shell is trying to become entwined with British cultural traditions by hosting these art functions. SOS states:

 Is this yet another way that large corporations are edging their way into British traditions? Does this relationship between oil giants and the arts impact British freedom of expression via creation? SOS argues that "corporate sponsorship, especially by oil companies whose livelihood depends on not moving forward from the outdated oil age, stifles and censors the arts".

Shell Out Sounds takes offense to oil industry giants like BP and Shell funding the arts with the dirty money earned in the exploitation of other countries. SOS wants to see action taken by the Southbank Centre to cut ties with Shell. The oil giant’s investment in the tar sands of Canada, fracking, recurrent oil spills in Nigeria and Shell’s controversial Artic drilling are all efforts by Shell to earn huge amounts of profit at the expense to land, resources and people.

One of these areas abused by Shell is in Nigeria. Human rights issues have been understated in the Niger Delta regions where Shell has, since the 1950’s created an ecological polluted disaster. A group in the early 1990’s, known as the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) were retaliated against for their nonviolent protest in Ogoniland that caused Shell to pull out of its operations in the region. The MOSOP was retaliated against by the government who raided villages and arrested the protest leaders, now known as the Ogoni 9.

Ken Saro-Wiwa, a popular author, TV producer and recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for his work, was executed in 1995 due to his involvement in the MOSOP. Amnesty International had tried to have him released from prison to no avail. Ken Saro-Wiwa’s protest had been a plea to have Shell cease destroying the Ogoni way of life by polluting the lands that they farmed and devastating the Niger Delta with the many oil spills over the years. The industry was supposed to be for the good of the Ogoni people but out of 5000 jobs in the workforce that were promised, only 100 or less of the employed were Ogoni.  Shell had not only backed out of promises to the Ogoni people but had stripped their lands of resources by their operations.  

In January, this year, Shell was found guilty in a Dutch court of oil pollution in the Niger Delta. It will take decades to remedy the ecological and environmental pollution in the wake of its operations. Faced by 11,000 members of the Niger Delta Bodo community, Shell has admitted liability for two spills in the Bodo region.

The SOS’ chants become the voice for those who cannot speak up about the injustices of corporate oil giants like Shell. They are the voice for the Ogoni people whose protest over Shell’s unethical activities ended in the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa. SOS "uses art to bring people together; uses music to tell stories of fractured, weeping communities; sings haunting harmonies to convey the disharmony that companies like Shell create”. By flash mobbing London’s Southbank Center, SOS hopes to be loud enough for executives of the Center to find other ways to monetarily sponsor the British arts in London and shed light on all of the unethical practices of the Shell Oil Company.

-----

Zion Lights is a writer and mother interested in ethics, attachment parenting, permaculture and green living. She is a regular contributor at One Green Planet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/zion-lights/shell-out-sounds-the-power-of-voice_b_2805482.html