HEA Chapter 20 Reading Guide

1. Define/describe: ecosystem, ecology, community, pollution, teratogen, mutation/mutagen,

2. Air pollution contributes to the development of several diseases. List some of them. Does air pollution contribute to genetically inherited diseases, like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia? (This is asking if it is a causative agent, not if it might make symptoms worse).

3. Discuss several strategies for reducing air pollution.

4. List several of the gases/particulates that contribute to air pollution. Explain how some of them are produced/released into the environment. Discuss how each affects health.

5. What type of pollutant is lead? Where is lead in our environment? Who is typically most at risk for lead poisoning, and what are some of the common exposure modes? What are symptoms of lead poisoning?

6. What types of seafood are most likely to have high levels of methylmercury in their tissues (related to their place in the ecosystem)? Who is most vulnerable to the effects of mercury? What are symptoms of mercury poisoning? Rate the following in terms of their relative mercury levels: salmon, tuna, halibut, chilean sea bass, pacific cod. Now rate them based on their relative sustainability. Use the pocket guides provided in the links.

Supplemental Lecture

I have little to add here, but I do want to discuss lead. I personally feel this gets much less attention than it deserves.

Lead is everywhere. Not because it's supposed to be; naturally most lead is too deep in the Earth for us to be exposed, with some exceptions. But lead is everywhere because we've dug it up and used it.

Here's some examples: it's in almost all PVC plastics (and can leach out in small amounts). It's in all electric cords, including those of Christmas lights (in fact, you are not supposed to let children play under Christmas trees because of lead dust from the lights!!!). It's in a lot of paint before the 70s (that means most of our homes), and in fairly high concentrations before 1950. It's in the soil, and can be incorporated into plant tissue in small amounts (ie, the food you eat). Because of the old Tacoma smelter, there are places in OUR area that have high levels of lead in the soil.

Think about this: when somebody knocks down a house that was built in 1944 to build a new house on the property, all that lead paint dust ends up in the soil for the new owners' kids to play in. When you knock down a wall to renovate, all that lead paint dust ends up on the surfaces of your home.

I'm not trying to scare you, obviously this has been going on for a long time and most of us are fine (although who knows, maybe a few IQ points lower than our potential, or more prone to dementia as we age?). What I'm trying to do is make you AWARE, and get you to ask questions and demand answers, for example during home sales. Or, get people talking about (and contributing money for) testing parks where our kids play.

One more thing while I'm thinking about home renovations: most linoleum before the 90s contains asbestos, and ripping it up does release asbestos dust into your home.

For more information,

www.watoxics.org