New Diseases, More Pollution Increase Health Challenges Worldwide

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The World Health Organization reports an estimated 3 million deaths worldwide each year from air pollutants — three times the number of traffic fatalities. In the United States, air pollution each year claims 70,000 lives, compared with the country’s 45,000 traffic deaths.

A United Kingdom research team reports a surprising rise in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and in motor neuron disease generally, in 10 industrial countries — six in Europe, plus the United States, Japan, Canada and Australia. Over an 18-year period, death rates from these diseases — mainly Alzheimer’s — more than tripled for men and nearly doubled for women. This increase in dementia is likely linked to a rise in the concentration of pesticides, industrial effluents, car exhaust and other pollutants in the environment. A 2006 study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that long-term, low-level exposure to pesticides raised the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 70 percent.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the various effects of mercury, a potent neurotoxin that now permeates the environment in virtually all countries with coal-burning power plants. In 2006, 48 of the 50 states in the United States (all but Alaska and Wyoming) issued a total of 3,080 fish advisories warning against eating fish from local lakes and streams because of their mercury content. EPA research indicates that one out of every six women of childbearing age in the United States has enough mercury in her blood to harm a developing fetus. This means that 630,000 of the 4 million babies born in the country each year may face neurological damage from mercury exposure before birth.

No one knows exactly how many chemicals are manufactured today, but with the advent of synthetic chemicals, the number of chemicals in use has climbed to more than 100,000. A random blood test of Americans will show measurable amounts of easily 200 chemicals that did not exist a century ago. Most of these new chemicals have not been tested for toxicity. Those that are known to be toxic are included in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a list of nearly 650 chemicals whose discharge by industry into the environment must be reported to the EPA. Since the TRI was inaugurated in 1988, reported toxic chemical emissions have declined dramatically. But with 700 new chemicals entering the economy each year, it is clear this program is inadequate in protecting the public from toxic chemicals in the United States.

Sign up for the Earth Policy News e-mail list. You’ll receive Eco-Economy Updates, Eco-Economy Indicators and Book Bytes. You’ll also get press releases and learn about new books the Earth Policy Institute has released.

Copyright © 2009 Earth Policy Institute.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print