Toxic Trouble
An article published tonight discusses toxic substances which have escaped treatment in waste-water facilities and are escaping into the Colorado River. The study looked at water being discharged from waste-water facilities along the Colorado River. Over 100 toxic substances were measured, ranging from household medicines, to pesticides, cleaning products, and flame retardants. There are warnings which have been issued about eating the fish in the river as a way to avoid ingesting the toxic compounds. Overall it seems as though it is hard for water-treatment facilities to keep up with the amount of chemicals that are constantly being introduced into the environment.
Wow! The number of compounds in the water is shocking! This is also another area that is tough to regulate. Even if one state bans dumping of certain chemicals into the water supply, water's natural mobility allows for contamination from states with more lenient laws. Just reading this makes me more conscious about what I put down the drain!
ReplyDelete