Toxics Imperil Humans and Wildlife

Sometimes people ask why Collective Roots' gardens are organic. Toxic chemicals have a long reach. We want them out of our food system and out of our environment. Read the following excerpts from article featuring a study that shows California Parks are less than pristine.

Dangerous Levels of Toxics Imperil Humans And Wildlife

“The fallout of industrialization has been detected in the forests of the western United States, where some of the country's most pristine sanctuaries are apparently coated with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals” says Peter Fimrite, writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Click here to read the whole article written by Fimrite. The following highlights are drawn from his article and from the actual study.

Fimrite describes a recently published federal study that found “surprisingly high concentrations of 70 contaminants, including mercury and a wide variety of pesticides. The pollution was found in the air, snow, lakes, on plants and in the fish at 20 national parks and monuments, including Yosemite.”

Three California parks were included in the study - Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon and Mount Lassen Volcanic national parks.

The mostly man-made toxic substances were apparently spewed into the atmosphere and wafted down like gas into the wild forests of Alaska, remote portions of the Rockies and the redwoods of California.

From the study:

Evidence suggests that the contaminants found in this study are carried in air masses from sources as far away as Europe and Asia, and as near as the local county. According to Landers, the presence of contaminants in snow is well-correlated with the proximity of each park to agricultural areas, pointing to these areas as probable major sources of these contaminants. In Alaska parks, with little nearby agriculture in the region, there are very low concentrations of most current-use compounds. However, concentrations of historic-use chemicals in Alaska systems are similar to those in the other parks sampled, suggesting greater influence from global atmospheric transport.

The three contaminants of highest concern for human and wildlife health included: 1) Mercury – a heavy metal emitted through processes such as burning coal for electricity that causes neurological and reproductive impairment; 2) Dieldrin – an acutely toxic insecticide banned from use in the U.S. since 1987 that decreases the effectiveness of the immune system; and 3) DDT – an insecticide banned in the U.S. since 1972 that reduces reproductive success.

Fimrite points out that “the most disturbing part of the study, known as the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project, was the discovery of mercury, apparently from coal-fired power plants, PCBs from industrial plants and the banned insecticides dieldrin and DDT, according to Flanagan.

All of those substances have been linked to health problems in humans, including nervous, immune system and reproductive failures.

"The most stunning thing about the report is that there are just so many chemicals in some of the most pristine places we have in the United States," said Mark Wenzler, the director of clean air and climate programs for the National Parks Conservation Association. "This report conclusively shows that activities many miles away can have major impacts and that what we put up today will continue to fall in our national parks decades into the future."

Click here to view the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project report.

Click here to view the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health.