WATER POLLUTION (FILTHY)

"The oceans are the planet's last great living wilderness, man's only remaining frontier on earth, and perhaps his last chance to produce himself a rational species." John L. Cullney(www.epa.gov(#9)). Nowhere have the problems been more studied or reported than in the Great Lakes. Fish contamination in Lake Ontario, for instance, stems from many of the most notorious contaminants: PCBs, mercury and pesticides like DDT, the by-products of industry and agriculture. The EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) lists 70 "Organic Priority Pollutants and Pesticides" and 18 "Priority Pollutant Metals" of concern to the fishing public. The roll call includes other noxious compounds like dioxin, chlordane, dieldrin, toxaphene, arsenic and selenium. "The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe (if less obviously immediate) as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. Our survival is just as much at stake as it was in the time of Pear Harbor, or the Argonne, or Gettysburg, or Sara tog.)" Jim Wright, U.S. Representative.(www.epa.gov(#9)) . Fisherman and their families who eat mercury-tainted fish are susceptible to nervous disorders and kidney dysfunction. Pesticides are strongly suspected of causing cancer and genetic disorders in children. The only confirmed effects of dioxin in humans are skin disorders, but in a variety of lab animals it is lethal. PCBs cause liver disease and nervous-system disorders and are also suspected of causing reproductive and developmental problems. Pregnant women who eat fish contaminated with PCBs show increased anemia and are predisposed to disease, and their children -- exposed to PCBs in the womb or through breastfeeding-- are prone to developmental disorders. "Children of a culture born in a water-rich environment, we have never really learned how important water is to us. We understand it, but we don not respect it." William Ashworth (www.epa.gov (#9)). These facts alone should be enough to convince industries to do every possible thing that they can to prevent the pollution of our water supply.