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Counteracting pollution
Poor food choices don’t have to mean poor eating habits.
For residents living in urban communities it is understandably more difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle than it is for residents of suburban neighborhoods. The food choices are usually less healthy and there are far fewer health food stores and good restaurants.
The absence of these higher-end businesses—which usually specialize in fresh fruit and produce—negatively affect the health of those in poorer areas. As a remedy, some members of these communities have banned together to dabble in urban gardening, growing their own fruits and vegetables to make up for what their neighborhood grocery stores lack.
Gardening is regaining popularity as a pastime for people across the nation, with seedlings popping up in the most unexpected places. While the traditional image of a garden may not exactly fit into the reality of most urban environments, the fact is you can grow your own food even if you live in an apartment. Urban gardening is all about using space wisely to regain a closer connection with your food.
There are different types of urban gardens, and they can help you to save a considerable amount of money and enjoy the freshest, healthiest produce possible. For example, there are container gardens, where residents use all types of old recyclables for planting in their yards; community gardens, which allow residents to share the crops and help beautify the neighborhood; guerrilla gardens, where determined residents plant trees and flowers wherever they see a need, regardless of whose property it is.
Pollution from pesticides
Pests can become an issue in any garden, but pesticides pose a serious and often underestimated threat to human health and the environment.
Many studies published in prestigious, peer-reviewed medical and epidemiological journals and reports point to strong associations between chemical pesticides and serious health consequences, including endocrine disruption, fertility problems, birth defects, various forms of cancer, learning disabilities and various acute effects, notes Dr. Merryl Hammond founder of Citizens for Alternatives to Pesticides.
In addition, according to Dr. Kelly Martin of Cape Canadian Alliance of Physicians for the Environment, “Current legislation does not require that pesticide solutions be tested, only their ‘active ingredients’ are subject to scrutiny,” he said.
“Studies have found that many of the ‘inert’ components are often more toxic than the active ingredient. This says little, therefore, of the overall toxicity of a solution. It must also be noted that little has been done to assess the cumulative effects of multiple pesticide exposure.”
Many common pesticides used in the home and garden pose significant human health risks.
A recent study by the Ontario College of Family Physicians found that Canadian children face “undeniable risks” from exposure to pesticides. Children, because of their physiology and behavior, are exposed to greater quantities of pesticides than adults, and are more vulnerable to their toxic effects.
A U.S. National Cancer Institute survey indicated that children are six times more likely to get childhood leukemia when pesticides are used in the home and garden.
Some of these pollutants can be controlled, but there is little to be done when pesticides are sprayed on the foods by farmers.
According to Environmental Protection Agency, in the U.S. 41 percent of insecticides are used on corn. Of these, 80 percent are used to treat a pest that could be controlled simply by rotating a different crop for a year.
However, there are eco-friendly, chemical-free pesticides that can be used in and around the home that aren’t harmful to people or the environment. Green Termite and Pest Control is one of the more popular agencies in Los Angeles and Orange counties that specializes in environmental and human health safety and offers free inspections. Visit www.greentermite.com for more information.
For those on a strict budget, it may soon become easier to rid your home of annoying pests. In a study presented at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting, scientists in Canada are reporting exciting new research on “essential oil pesticides” or “killer spices.” These substances represent a relatively new class of natural insecticides that show promise as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional pesticides while also posing fewer risks to human and animal health, the researcher says.
“We are exploring the potential use of natural pesticides based on plant essential oils commonly used in foods and beverages as flavorings,” says study presenter Murray Isman, Ph.D., of the University of British Columbia.
These new pesticides are generally a mixture of tiny amounts of two to four different spices diluted in water. Some kill insects outright, while others repel them. So soon the spices you may already have in your kitchen cabinet, specifically rosemary, thyme, clove, and mint, may become some of the key ingredients in green pest control.
Pollution of the air
About 154 million Americans—or more than half the U.S. population—live in areas where the air is so polluted that it is often dangerous to breathe, and California seems to be the ringleader, according to the most recent report on air quality from the American Lung Association.
In a report called State of the Air 2011, it was revealed that about 48 percent of U.S. residents live in counties where smog (ozone) is too high, 20 percent live in areas where there are too many short-term spikes in pollution, and six percent live in areas with harmful year-round soot (particle pollution). More than 17 million Americans live in areas afflicted by all three air pollution hazards.
This worries scientists since research suggests air pollution threatens human health altogether, not just the lungs.
On days when smog levels spike, there’s an increase in hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses, heart attacks and stroke in the two or three days following it, said Michael Jerrett, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.
Avoiding pollution is extremely difficult. According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, you cannot produce enough air exchange in modern buildings to totally remove all contamination. Most enclosed buildings with mechanical ventilating systems will eventually experience air contamination unless the sources that lead to the buildup are controlled. Therefore, air cleaning or filtration is a technique that has been advocated to prevent or minimize air contamination, but even the systems made for households cannot accurately measure the reduction in air contamination. Therefore, it has been suggested that residents remain diligent about keeping air and heating ducts clean.
Being housebound is not necessarily a better solution to avoiding pollution either. Indoor air quality, which is affected by dust mites, pollen, mold, radon, carbon monoxide, and excessive carbon dioxide, is one of the EPA’s top five environmental risks to public health. Pollution inside typically is two to five times worse than outdoors.
Pollution from traffic
A couple of new findings have revealed the health effects of living near freeways. Pregnant women living near highways or busy roads are more than twice as likely give birth “very pre-term” at 30 or fewer weeks. The exact reasoning isn’t clear, but researchers say it could involve oxidative damage to the child’s DNA. The lead scientist for one study suggested the culprits might be airborne compounds called “polycyclic aromatics” that are a component of auto pollution.
These health risks are in addition to asthma, cancer, heart disease, brain damage, and generally shortened life spans that traffic pollution has been shown to impact the human body, and victims don’t have to be right next to the highway to be affected.
Researchers at UCLA have found that a large freeway’s pollution cloud extends as much as a mile and a half away. This distance is 10 times greater than the daytime pollutant impacts that had been previously measured and it has significant exposure implications.
While changing where you live and avoiding the commute to work is not a possibility for most people, scientists suggest people can protect themselves by avoiding exercise or activity near highways or high traffic areas as much as possible.
Pollution from power lines
Many people have begun to be concerned about how close they live to power lines for fear of the hazardous effects that radiation is said to have on human health, but researchers say that the electromagnetic fields that you already encounter inside your home from power lines that attach to your house are no more problematic than your appliances and television, computer monitor, stereo speakers, electric blankets, AC-powered snooze alarm, and cell phone.
Radiation lowers the melatonin levels in our bodies with a direct correlation to our immune system. The lowered melatonin impedes the body’s response to diseases like cancer.
Metal construction expert Jonathan Steele says there are ways to reduce exposure such as having one room in your home that is free of all EMF emitting appliances, but overall it is virtually impossible to escape exposure to radiation. “Having a good sound plan of action to avoid overexposure is not only practical, but could save a life,” he said. “It may be necessary to buy your own EMF detector to test the levels in your home, if you have a lot of these key devices.”
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