When we talk about pollution, we often refer to the fate of the planet: global warming, melting ice caps and other greenhouse gases effects. But what about the 5,000 children who die every day from diseases related to water, air or food pollution?
As your specialist in health related information, we are alarmingly aware of these diseases which are a crime against mankind, committed by his own hand.
Diseases caused by air pollution
If today in the world, more and more people die following the inhalation of polluted air inside their habitat (use of solid fuels, poorly ventilated houses, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc.), air pollution is responsible for nearly 400 000 annual deaths in Europe alone.
While it is difficult for researchers to positively attribute these deaths to poor air quality, it is nevertheless proven that this data now affects our life expectancy. If air pollution affects primarily our respiratory system (inflammation or even cancer, lung diseases, bronchitis, asthma or angina pectoris), chemical and biological substances can also attack our cardiovascular system, with risks of cardiac arrhythmia (arrhythmia or dysrhythmia) that can lead to a stroke or heart attack.
Even though pollution remains today a minor factor leading to cardiovascular diseases – compared to smoking, obesity or diabetes – some megacities increasingly see their emergency rooms fill up considerably during the ‘smog’ period (the thick mist due to a mixture of atmospheric pollutants).
Water pollution: a deadly plague
Unlike air pollution, whose effects on health are difficult to measure, water contamination is clearly visible and particularly harmful. In many countries, poor sanitation and near-zero water treatment cause millions of deaths each year. When water becomes impurity and simply, a poison, life is hard to sustain. There are two types of diseases related to water pollution.
Those due to bacteriological, viral or parasitic pollutions, from human or animal excrement, which provoke hepatitis, cholera or typhoid. And those due to chemical pollution (pesticides, hydrocarbons, solvents, etc.), causing cancers of the skin, kidneys or lungs as well as digestive or neurological disorders.
The WHO organization estimates today to 100 billion dollars the investment necessary to allow access to drinking water to all the inhabitants of the planet. The war in Iraq, with the success we know, would have cost in total nearly 800 billion dollars in the United States, just as a side note.
Food pollution: poison on the plate
A recent experiment conducted on laboratory rats has confirmed what many have thought for quite some time: GMOs are bad for health or even deadly harmful in some cases. In addition to GMOs, other poisons are at the bottom of our plate: pesticides, nitrates, heavy metals and other dyes would cause each year nearly 220,000 deaths worldwide.
Even if the subject is controversial and its repercussions are difficult to determine in the short term, the pollutants present in our food would particularly hit the mucous membranes and the skin as well as our digestive and respiratory systems. If you do not have the means or the desire to buy organic, nevertheless think about washing your fruits and vegetables well before consuming them.
Is there anything we could do to reduce this pollution in Florida and elsewhere? As an individual you must make sure you do not produce any waste or junk that could end up polluting the soil, water or even the air. Start by doing proper waste management and recycling of your garbage items. If you need to use some Fort Myers dumpster rental in order to remove unused items in your house or office, including hazardous materials, then just do it. These are the most dangerous types of products in your waste, so make sure to hire professionals to deal with them.