The During The American Revolution - 1226 Words

During the early American Revolution, Boston was a place where at the time colonies could not find peace. After gaining their independence from the French and Indian war, they had been put so far in debt that the British began taxing them to pay it off. The colonies were so angry about these taxes that they began to revolt against them. They were angry because these decisions were made without their consent, they didn’t have any one to speak for them in the parliament. All the revolts on taxes like the sugar act, tea act, and stamp act lead to the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. A big group of Bostonians marched to the Boston Harbor and threw 340 chests of tea into the water. As a response of this, British passed the Coercive Acts†¦show more content†¦After the coercive acts, they demanded to have a meeting with the British. At the First Continental Congress in Pennsylvania from September 5 to October 26, 1774 representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies met to t ry to persuade the British to recognize their rights. This resulted in them letting the colonies to the rights of life, liberty, property, and the right to establish their own taxes within the colonies. This calmed it down a little but the British kept Sending troops to Boston making them mad. They were determined. Determination and hope led them to win the revolution because they found a way to keep the colonies up and strong throughout the whole time. The provincial congress members had met up to discuss the colonies. â€Å"He turned from †¦ lectures of caution and prudence to asserting and defending the most bold and undisguised principles of liberty, and defying in their very teeth the agents of the crown.† The Bostonians weren’t afraid to disobey their mother country and fight for their new country. Even though they were considered British people in America, they had never seen or gone to the other side of the Atlantic. Therefore, the Americas was there home and they were determined to fight for its independence and get away from the British. The American Revolution was started from a spark that was ignited in Boston. It was led to be an American victory because of Boston’s endless hope of winning the war

Psychology in American Beauty Essay - 1038 Words

Psychology in American Beauty Have you ever seen a movie that just simply amazed you and almost disgusted you in a way. Well over this weekend my family and I decided to rent the movie American Beauty. This movie recently has won many awards for performances in acting and best role play. But that is not the reason we choose to watch American Beauty. We choose to rent this movie pending on the fact for me to write my final psychology paper on it. American Beauty struck me in very different ways some including feelings of disgust, truth and reality, but mainly it was filled with many social psychology terms. If you asked to pick a different movie to show and demonstrate the examples of certain psychology terms I don’t think I would†¦show more content†¦Another scene is when she has some fund raiser for reality and she really likes The King of real sate so she tells Lester to just be quiet and for once make himself useful to her. Now we will turn to Lester for a little while our next subject. Lester is at a high school basketball game to watch his daughter Janie who is on the cheerleader squad. Although he was not very thrilled about going to the event once he notices the physical appearance (the way she looks relates to her personality and intelligence) of his daughters friend who is also on the squad Lester suddenly becomes very interested. Lester before he even introduces himself to Angela the friend of his daughter, assumes because of her beauty that she is personable and precise. Another trait about Lester is that every time he either sees Angela or even thinks about her something strange begins to happen. Lester starts to see these roses and they appear to whatever he is thinking about. This to me is an Attributing Factor ( The inference process people use to assign cause and effect to behavior) So whenever Angela is on his mind these roses or pedal are attributed . Cognitive Dissonance ( The tension produced when people act in a way that is inconsistent with there attitudes, attitude change may occur as a result of attempting to reduce cognitive dissonance. LesterShow MoreRelatedAbnormal Psychology: Case Study on American Beauty1094 Words   |  5 Pages1 â€Å"American Beauty†, the 1999 film, is a motion picture that more or less shows a different side of the average suburban family. Although all of the characters have significant issues, I have chosen to take a closer look at Lester Burnham. Lester Burnham is a 42-year-old businessman who is married to the career-obsessed Carolyn and they have one daughter, a teenager named Jane. One of the first scenes of the movie explains how the family works: Carolyn is driving, just like she â€Å"drives† the familyRead MoreBeauty Standards For Black Women839 Words   |  4 Pagesexcludes culturally relevant factors for African American (Black) women. 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An abstract should contain a summary of the journal article (Bryman, 2004). The introductionRead MoreThe Black Of Black Is Ugly1529 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferent even inferior racial stock compared to the almost transparently white English, Germans, and Swedes. Just a few decades later, those groups were fully accepted into the community of whites while Asians, Latinos, and most of all, African Americans have been reduced because of their darker skin. All over the world, light/fair skinned people have seemingly been placed on a pedestal while darker skinned people have been ridiculed, or worse, been considered ugly. Dark skinned inhabitants outnumberRead MoreThe New Body Types Are Petite, Tall And Curvy763 Words   |  4 PagesDockterman goes inside the company’s story to discuss the risks they re taking and what their decision says about American beauty standards. For generations, Barbie has been the global symbol of American beauty. The doll has been associated with the belief that it was designed â€Å"to teach women what is expected of them in society.† In 2006, a study published in the journal Development Psychology found that girls exposed to Barbie at a young age â€Å"expressed greater concern with being thin, compared with thoseRead MoreThe Negative Stereotypes Of A Child s Interaction With Barbie855 Words   |  4 Pages341-361. doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2005.05.001 Aubrey, J. S., Harrison, K. (2004). The gender-role content of children s favorite television programs and its links to their gender-related perceptions. Media Psychology, 6(2), 111-146. Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44, 1175– 1184. Darke, K., Clewell, B., Sevo, R. (2002). Meeting the challenge: The impact of the National Science Foundation s program for women and girls. Journal of Women and MinoritiesRead More Beauty, Biology, and Society Essay1544 Words   |  7 PagesBeauty, Biology, and Society What is beauty? How do human beings decide who is attractive and who is not? Society is full of messages telling us what is beautiful, but what are those definitions based on? Do we consciously decide whom we are attracted to, or is biology somehow involved? The issue of beauty and how we define it has been studied for centuries. Scholars from all fields of study have searched for the formula for beauty. Darwin in his book The Descent of Man wrote, It is certainlyRead MoreAfrican American Women s Assimilation Into White Culture770 Words   |  4 Pagesinternal thought to African-Americans, especially African-American women, audience about why African-American hated themselves and wanted to be white. This self-hatred and desire to be white stems from the pressure to absorb and assimilate to white culture, which calls for African-American women to deny their race completely. This is perpetuated by which is proliferated practices and rhetoric that suggest that being African-American is equated to being inferior. Thus African-American women have sustainedRead MoreThe New Psychology: Early Physiological and Experimental Psychology and Structuralism1433 Words   |  6 PagesThe New Psychology: Early Physiological and Experimental Psychology And Structuralism Psy5102-8 Dr. Kornfeld By: Janelle Jumpp Table of Contents 1. What do you consider to be the proper subject matter of psychology? 2. What methods should psychology use to approach the subjects it studies? 3. What do you expect will be your most lasting contribution to the field of psychology? 4. What do you consider to be an appropriate role for the field of psychologyRead MoreThe Negative Effects of Child Beauty Pageants Essay1688 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Beauty pageants have been around in America for decades; however, they have not gained notoriety until the show Toddlers and Tiaras aired on national television. The airing of Toddlers and Tiaras has brought child pageants to the attention of many Americans. Not many people were aware of what took place in beauty pageants, but ever since the show debuted in 2009 there has been an intense controversy about children as young as newborns being entered into pageants. Some people say that pageants

Dance choreography Extended programme notes Free Essays

Big Brother is a dance that explores the idea of being trapped and controlled within a â€Å"box. † For me the box was a larger metaphor for society, and on another level, the dance explores the idea of society controlling the individual, and the desire to escape this control. The accompaniment I chose is called, â€Å"The Black Parade† by My Chemical Romance. We will write a custom essay sample on Dance choreography: Extended programme notes or any similar topic only for you Order Now I chose this piece of music because I felt it created a very strong atmosphere that largely reflected the emotions of the character in my dance. Though only used for around twenty seconds, the varying pace and the complex rhythms in the piece created an air of frustration, desperation and excitement- emotions I try to convey as the character attempts to break free of the box. The electric guitars and drums complemented the powerful and often heavy dynamics. I chose to use a section that moved from a slower tempo into a faster tempo as I felt this represented the character’s situation at that point in the dance. The slower tempo, I feel, made the character seem weary- tired of fighting. The transition into the faster tempo as the character makes a final attempt to break free of the box gives the final section an exciting climax, and creates a sense of excitement yet desperation at the idea of escaping. I decided to bring the music in slowly as I felt it built the atmosphere effectively towards a climax at the end of the piece. My piece is split into four sections of ABCD narrative. Section A focussed on the character’s discovery of being trapped, whilst section B looked at the character being controlled whilst being trapped in the box (this was also a theme running throughout my piece. Section C, the largest of the sections looked at the character’s attempt to escape from the box. Finally, section D, the shortest section, was the character’s actual escape from the confines of the box. I began my dance at centre stage, in a ball shape on the floor. By making myself look very small, I feel it made me look very vulnerable, and as if confined- immediately defining the idea of restriction. I then began to run around the ‘box’ following a random pathway, pushing off the walls. Creating the circular box as I define these walls. This random pathway indicates the idea of panic for the character on discovering they are in a box. The pathways being random represent the character’s lack of self-control over oneself- and underpinning the theme of my dance. Although within these random pathways, I never travel outside the box, outlining the fact I am trapped. The strong pushing gestures (motif A) I use in this section are one of the main motifs running through my piece, and reveal the fact the character is confined to the box. Section B is performed mainly in bound-flow, though the gestures move from closed to open. Initially, the arms are tight to the body, trying to pull away- symbolising chains. Then when free, I take large steps, trudging around the box in a zigzag pathway, with my arms and head floppy yet tense- as if a puppet. Similarly, the idea of a puppet is reflected in the heavy steps here. I used the puppet to convey the idea of the character being controlled; his strings are pulled by society. I then make a gesture, at the edge of the box, facing the audience, as if ‘pulling’ away the wall of the box. My facial expression here completely changes to one of wonder and amazement, and I use the second motif – a mime of touching/exploring the wall before pushing off into a spin (motif B). I do this very softly, a contrast from the strength of movements inside the box. I am then pulled back into the box, again like a puppet back under the box’s control. This provides the link between section B and section C. I am trying to escape the confines of the box in section C and this is reflected in the repetition of motifs A and B as well as running about the space. As the character is pulled back into the box, the space becomes larger, into a rectangular shape. I included this to allow me to explore a larger amount of the space. This section begins with similar puppet like movements from section B this time repeated on the floor. After getting up, I then run about the space, repeating motif A. After pushing off each wall, I develop this motif by adding to the end of it- travelling to the next in various ways: spins, slide, leap and run. Using many actions emphasises the manic behaviour of the trapped character. The space then again becomes small, this time very small, as if within a corridor. Motif A is again developed, this time by using elbows to push instead of palms. As a result of being trapped in this new smaller box, the somewhat free flow gestures seen earlier in this section become bound flow. I then repeat motif B, this time with a new emphasis on the movements. Instead of them being soft, as they were first, I made them powerful and developed them by adding a hop and push. The hop and push helped make the character look more desperate as if pushing up as well as out of the box. In addition, I developed this motif by repeating each section (the push and spin and then the hop and push) alternately facing to each side. I did this because I wanted to show my motif to the audience from several viewpoints to help add interest to my dance. Section D provides the climax to the dance. The link between section C and D is a set of fast spins, with arms bent upwards. This shows that the character is breaking out of chains seen in section B. The music becomes louder, and moves into a faster tempo- I imagine this to represent the character’s heartbeat. The music in section C is slower, but as the character reaches the final breakout he becomes more and more frantic and excited. The climax is me running into a slide on my knees across the floor toward downstage left. I thrash my arms to represent the break for freedom. I then repeat my developed motif B, further developing it by changing the level. This shows how tired the character has become of fighting to escape. For the final image in my piece I thrash my arms over my head, throw my torso forward and hold. The floppy arms here can be left to interpretation for the audience. They could be seen as showing relief at breaking free of the box. Similarly, they also resemble the puppet arms seen in section B showing the box’s control- and therefore may indicate that however hard he fights, he cannot escape the box’s control. I wished for the audience to make their own interpretation at this point. There is floor work in each of the four sections. The transition between low and high levels suggests at the characters weakness- as if being thrown about the space, as seen in sections A and C. I choreographed this dance as a solo because I wished for it to focus around an individual’s fight to break free from the confines of a society that tries to force people into conforming to certain ways- as if the individual is a puppet. By performing in solo, it allows the audience to focus and speculate more on how the individual is affected by society. Similarly, I could have choreographed a group dance to display how this idea of control or the ‘box’ affects many of us. Throughout my dance I mainly concentrated my focus forward, toward the walls of the box. I did this because I felt it revealed the character’s determination to escape the box. I only had a different focus during two other moments. When being the puppet I had my focus follow my arms and legs to suggest that my whole body was being controlled and pulled toward a point in the space. Secondly, in section B when I pulled away from the wall of the box, to show I was outside of the box my focus was all around the space ahead- as if looking in amazement at what was outside the box. In my piece facial expressions played a huge part in helping tell the story. I used a large variety of facial expressions in accordance with my character’s varying emotions. In the opening section my facial expressions were wide and open, and my breathing heavy, to show the character is panicking at being in the box. In the puppet section, my face is blank, to show I haven’t control over myself. When seeing outside the box, I looked around in amazement to show the contrast between the box and the outside. And during sections C and D my facial expressions were much tighter to show the character is angry at being in the box, and is determined to find a way to escape. I ensured that the music entered at a time that it went well with the narrative. The music was symbolising the character’s emotions. When controlled by the box the character has no control over his own emotions. The lack of music symbolises this- no emotion, no music. Similarly, in section D, the music indicated that the character was about to break free, and gain his own emotions back. As a result my music only came in very close to the climax, when I finally escape the box. I had two main inspirations for the dance. The book â€Å"1984† by George Orwell looks at the idea of society trying to control all aspects of our lives, by taking away individuality and making each person the same. A robot; or puppet in the image of society. This is where I got the main idea for the puppet like movements, and for the idea of being trapped within a box. It is also the inspiration for my title ‘Big Brother,’ a term coined by the book. Also, watching the piece ‘Swansong’ by Christopher Bruce influenced me hugely. I feel the greatest influence it had on me was to create a piece about the world we live in. The themes of bullying and injustices, that Bruce looks at in the piece, are things that happen in the context of prison all around the world. I took from the piece, that sometimes the most powerful pieces are ones that people can in fact understand and relate, to the dance idea. I am extremely pleased with the piece of dance I have choreographed for my coursework. I feel it clearly expressed an interesting dance idea in an engaging fashion. I am particularly, pleased with my manipulation of spatial design to make clear the idea of the box, and the way the box got larger and then closed in around the character. I felt that the simple motifs very clearly communicated the dance idea, with the pushing motions, and were developed in a way that made them very interesting: by adding spins, leaps, hops, turns and varying levels. Feedback from my peers suggested that my main motifs very clearly communicated the idea of being trapped within a box, and that the message of the dance was very clear. I believe I made the right decision in choreographing a solo piece, as I feel that this emphasised the idea of an individual against the greater society well. I did not like the section B I initially choreographed, as after watching it back on video and receiving feedback from my teachers I felt it was much weaker in comparison to the rest of the dance. The movements were much weaker, and the section did not clearly communicate the dance idea, as it was mainly just a set of non-complementing floor patterns and gestures. I instead developed the theme of society’s control, and used this to create the puppet section- a section I am proud of as it is interesting to watch and expresses the dance idea clearly. I could possibly have changed the dynamic of section B to a slower pace to create a greater contrast between the controlled puppet character, and the character fighting for freedom. Other from that, I like the whole of my dance, and felt that all sections were powerful and communicated the dance idea effectively whilst being strong and exciting to watch- especially when combined with my powerful use of facial expression. In feedback from my teachers they suggested that the music would be more appropriately brought in at the point where the character pulls the walls apart and sees outside the box, to show that the character has seen an outside world- a hope- and that now they are not being so controlled but instead fighting the control. My favourite moment of the dance was the ending, the climax to the piece. The loud fast music, powerful and fast dynamic, thrashing gestures and throwing myself to the floor made this very dramatic and a very exhilarating end to the piece. How to cite Dance choreography: Extended programme notes, Papers

Drinking water contamination Essay Example For Students

Drinking water contamination Essay Due to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Americas drinking water is safer than it has been in decades, and of better quality than that of many other countries. Accordingly, many Americans believe that while people elsewhere may have reason to be concerned about getting sick from contaminated tap water, we are safe. Yet, incidents in the United States such as the outbreak of the microorganism cryptosporidium in Milwaukees water supply in 1993 that killed more than one hundred people and sickened over 400,000, and lead and pesticide contamination while not affecting most, threaten the tap water of millions of Americans. In truth, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, in 1994 and 1995, 45 million Americans drank water from water systems that fell short of SDWA standards.1 Adding gravity to the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the EPA advised that people with weakened immune systems should consult with their doctors and consider boiling their drinking water to kill any cryptosporidium.2This is just the tip of the iceberg. Some scientists believe that for every outbreak reported in the United States, another ten may be occurring.3 One such study found that as many as one in three gastrointestinal illnesses often chalked up to stomach flu are caused by drinking water contaminated with microorganisms.4Such microbial-related outbreaks say nothing about the many other hazards borne by our nations water supply. Researchers have shown that millions of Americans regularly drink tap water that is contaminated with toxic and cancer-causing chemicals such as lead, trihalome thanes (THMs), arsenic, radioactive materials, and pesticides. A 1994 study estimated that some 14.1 million Americans drank water contaminated with the pesticides atrazine, cyanazine, simazine, alachlor, and metolachlor.5 The manufacturers of these agricultural herbicides have shown that these chemicals may cause cancer, birth defects, and genetic mutations. To make matters worse, some water utilities have been less than forthcoming with information about their drinking water supplies and the efficacy of their purifying methods. While the primary concern of most water utilities is delivering safe drinking water and a large number readily share their water quality data with the public many insist on erecting barriers between the public they serve and information about the water they supply.6As a result of the failure of the government and many water systems in the country to protect the drinking water supply, many Americans no longer trust the purity of their tap water, and so pay enormous amounts of money nearly $2 billion annually for bottled water and home tap water treatment units.7 Unfortunately, there are few standards guaranteeing the quality of these options. According to one study, as much as one-quarter to one-third of all bottled water sold in the United States originates from water supplied by public water utilities.8Unhealthy drinking water affects children in different ways than it does adults. There is cause for special concern for the health of children who drink tap water. Legal standards for most waterborne contaminants generally have been set based on the health effects of pollutants on average adults; consequently, the health of millions of people including infants, children, pregnant women and their fetuses, the elderly, and the chronically ill -may not be protected. To compound matters, infants and children drink more than two and a half times as much water as adults as a proportion of their body weight.9 An infant living solely on formula consumes about one-seventh of its own weight of water each day, which would correspond to approximately three gallons of water for a 155-pound adult man.10 The hazards posed by waterborne lead are especially pernicious. In 1991, the EPA estimated that lead in drinking water harms the health of millions of children, causing more than 560,000 children to exceed the level of concern for blood-lead levels defined by the CDC.11 (A recent EPA rule regulating lead in drinking water may have reduced this number of children.) Particularly susceptible to waterborne lead poisoning are infants, who are often exposed when their formula is reconstituted with tap water. This chapter discusses the widespread contamination of the United States drinking water supplies by microorganisms, pesticides, lead, disinfectant by-products, arsenic, and radioactivity. Citizens need to seek remedies to ensure the health of their families in the face of increasing threats to the nations water supply. Toward that end this chapter describes scientific research bearing on the health impacts of water contamination on children, suggests measures that concerned parents and others can take and identifies model programs of local solutions that have worked throughout the nation. HAZARDS OF DRINKING WATER CONTAMINATIONWilliam K. Reilly, Administrator of the EPA under the Bush Administration, classified drinking water contamination among the top four public health risks posed by environmental problems.12 Some experts estimate that 560,000 people become moderately to severely ill each year from consuming contaminated water.13 About 10,700 bladder and rectal cancers each year may be associated with THMs and their chemical cousins.14 That translates into about thirty cancers per day. The large number of disease outbreaks throughout the country should come as no surprise, considering how many Americans drink tap water that fails to meet minimum EPA health and treatment standards for infectious microorganisms standards which themselves overlook some of the most hazardous pathogens presently infecting our nations water supply. Waterborne pathogen sources that can cause disease outbreaks include leaking septic tanks; uncontrolled urban runoff contaminated with animal waste; manure in farm, feedlot,15 and slaughterhouse runoff or direct discharges; and raw or inadequately treated sewage overflows from aging, poorly managed, or inadequately designed sewage conveyance and treatment systems. Drinking water disease outbreaks occur when drinking water wells, surface sources, or post-treatment water in pipes or storage areas of water systems become contaminated with disease-causing microbes that originate from these sources. Since many drinking water watersheds and recharge areas are now under heavy development pressure, this problem is likely to worsen in the absence of political or legal action. Existing data on contamination are troubling. A 1991 survey of sixty-six surface water plants in fourteen states and one Canadian province revealed that 87 percent of raw water samples contained cryptosporidium, and 81 percent contained a similar parasite called giardia; overall, the study showed, some 97 percent of the samples contained one of these two disease carriers.16 Some of these organisms may have been nonviable, and therefore unable to infect people. In many cases, these organisms cannot be sufficiently controlled with chlorine disinfection. EPA data show that more than 29 million people drank water served by systems with coliform bacteria higher than the EPAs health standards allow, and that 19.6 million Americans drank water from systems that failed to meet the EPAs basic treatment standards, which indicate inadequate quality, filtration, or disinfection. 17 Another 10.2 million people in the United States were being served water found to contain turbidity18 the cloudiness that often signals microbiological contamination and that can make it impossible to effectively disinfect the water even with heavy doses of chlorine. In Milwaukee, for instance, the only initial sign of a problem was the waters turbidity. Testing for cryptosporidium, the deadly parasite that caused the diarrhea and vomiting, did not occur until after people became sick. In fact, until 1997, EPA regulations failed to require any monitoring of water supplies for cryptosporidium. Amendments to SDWA in 1996 require the EPA to regulate cryptosporidium levels, starting with large supply systems. As a result, commencing in the summer of 1997, large systems serving over 100,000 started monitoring for cryptosporidium, and under a rule scheduled to be issued in 1998, most large systems will have to take preliminary steps to filter out cryptosporidium. By the year 2000, the EPA must issue a final rule applicable to all drinking water systems using surface water. Many water systems in the United States may be more vulnerable than Milwaukees to contamination by disease-carrying organisms. The Milwaukee water supply is filtered, though apparently the filter suffered from some type of failure. Unfiltered systems or systems with poorly operated and maintained filters may be at even greater risk. In a limited sampling of fewer than one hundred utilities, NRDC found that more than 45.6 million Americans drank water supplied by systems where the unregulated and potentially deadly contaminant cryptosporidium was found in their raw or treated water.19 Hundreds of chemicals and microbes have been detected in drinking water supplies throughout the country, yet tests are required for just over a hundred of these.20There has been no coordinated effort between government agencies and researchers to document levels of contamination or illness caused by many waterborne microbes, including cryptosporidium. The lack of an active waterborne disease surveillance program in the United States means that reports of outbreaks are haphazard. A CDC report found that the waterborne-related illnesses reported each year probably represent only a small proportion of all illnesses associated with waterborne-disease agents.21 This report goes on to state that illnesses occurring after years of exposure to low-level toxins are not detectable, nor are outbreaks of sporadic illnesses resulting from opportunistic pathogens that may be widespread in chlorinated drinking water systems but that may cause illness with insidious onset and long incubation periods in persons who are immunocompromised.The CDC tracked 116 waterborne disease outbreaks that killed more than a hundred and sickened more than 450,000 others between 1971 and 1994.22 Although the majority of those illnesses occurred during one incident in Milwaukee, other significant outbreaks occurred, including one affecting 13,000 people in Georgia. Aside from the Milwaukee incident, where 400,000 people became ill due to cryptosporidium, none of these outbreaks of waterborne disease have received significant national attention. Epidemic outbreaks of waterborne disease those in which many people fall ill at once are difficult to ignore, say some researchers, whereas endemic levels of waterborne disease incidents in which a modest percentage of the population fall ill, or in which the illnesses are chronic and long-term may be occurring continually with nobodys knowledge. One CDC expert concluded that thousands of people would have to become afflicted with a waterborne illness in New York City before public officials would be able to recognize it as an outbreak, and even then there would be no guarantee that the disease source would be properly identified.23One study sheds light on the grave situation in which our ignorance places us. Researchers installed sophisticated under-the-sink filters in a number of homes served by a water system meeting all current standards for water treatment, including filtration and disinfection. Then they tracked the number of illnesses in these homes, as well as the illnesses in homes served by the same water system but which lacked the sophisticated filters. What the researchers found was as surprising as it was troubling: significantly higher rates of people who did not have the filters became sick compared with those whose water was filtered. The researchers estimated that 35 percent of the reported gastrointestinal illnesses among tap water drinkers were water-related and preventable.24PesticidesContamination of water resources is one of the most damaging and widespread environmental effects of agricultural production. Drinking water is vulnerable to pollution by agricultural chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers, as well as their metabolites. Design Of An Aquatic Centre Construction EssayWhile lead, when present, is a serious health threat, there is a very good chance that you do not have a lead problem. The nations leading water-lead research program, at the University of North Carolina at Asheville has tested the water from more than 60,000 homes. It found that 83 percent of the homes tested had very low levels of lead. Another 15 percent could solve their problem by running the water briefly before using it.40 In 1993, Consumer Reports announced the results of their nationwide drinking water sampling for lead. Sixty-one percent of the households had no detectable lead (detection limit 2 parts per billion (ppb)).41Trihalomethanes and Other Disinfection By-ProductsDisinfection of water supplies has substantially reduced the incidence of many waterborne diseases. But there are risks associated with this process. Trihalomethanes (THMs) and other disinfection by-products (DBPs), which are formed when chlorine or other sim ilar disinfectants are used to purify water that has not been treated to remove organic matter before disinfection, are found at significant levels in the drinking water of 80 to 100 million Americans.42 Animal studies have long shown that these chemicals are likely to cause cancer in people.43An analysis in American Journal of Public Health of more than ten epidemiological studies found that DBPs may be responsible for 10,700 or more rectal and bladder cancers per year.44 Colorado researchers recently completed another study of human populations exposed to DBPs. That study confirmed the findings of previous studies that exposure to DBPs is significantly associated with bladder cancer.45 Another study concluded that analyses of the health effects of exposure to THMs and possibly other DBPs may have substantially underestimated risks due to understatement of exposure.46 The researchers found that overall lifetime cancer risk associated with exposure to THMs in shower water is underes timated by about 50 percent if the concentration of THMs in cold water is used in a risk assessment. The level of THMs increases substantially when water is heated, but most studies have measured concentrations of THMs in cold water. When steam is inhaled during use of hot water, such as showering, exposure to DBPs is increased, and the risks are higher than generally assumed. By improving water treatment such as physically removing precursors to DBPs water systems can control DBPs while reducing microbiological risks. Modern treatment technologies known as precursor removal, such as granular activated carbon, can be employed without harming the ability of water systems to disinfect their water. However, only a relative handful of U.S. water systems use this technology. In light of strong evidence that DBPs pose serious health risks, the EPA is required to issue rules in late 1998 to reduce THM levels. More stringent requirements are due in 2002. ArsenicThe most significant non-occupational exposure to arsenic now occurs through the contamination of drinking water. There are numerous studies of populations with exposure to high levels of arsenic through drinking water (at levels above the current EPA standard unchanged since 1942 of 50 ppb). In humans, skin cancer has long been associated with chronic ingestion of arsenic.47 Bladder, lung, and other types of cancer have also been observed at elevated rates in populations exposed to arsenic in tap water.48 In the United States, more than 50 million people drink tap water containing arsenic, mostly at levels below EPAs current standard of 50 ppb. It has been estimated, however, that 25 million people in this country are exposed to at least 25 ppb of arsenic in their drinking water and that as many as 350,000 people may be exposed to levels greater than the 50 ppb standard.51California state experts found that water containing arsenic at the level of the EPAs current drinking water standard (set in 1942 before arsenic was known to cause cancer) presents a risk of more than one cancer in every one hundred people exposed 10,000 times higher risk than the EPAs standard acceptable cancer risk of one in one million.52 This is extremely troubling because 35 million people in the United States drink water every day from their community water systems that contain arsenic at a level of over 1 ppb, which presents a very significant cancer risk.53While numerous studies in other countries have demonstrated arsenics carcinogenicity at moderate to high doses, a handful of very small studies done on U.S. populations have failed to show a statistically significant increase in the risk of developing skin cancer at low dose exposures. The difficulty of demonstrating adverse health effects may be due to the type of study design and the small populations studied, both of which decrease the statistical power of a study to detect adverse health effects. Researchers from the University of California recently found increased rates of death from vascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis, aortic aneurysms, and other diseases of the arteries, arterioles, and capillaries among Americans living in areas with relatively higher levels of arsenic in their drinking water.54 Another study found a link between this widespread drinking water contaminant and diabetes mellitus.55 According to the study of large populations in Taiwan, people who receive significant levels of arsenic in their drinking water have a six to ten times greater risk of developing diabetes mellitus. The researchers found that there was a dose-response relationship that is, the more arsenic in the drinking water, the more likely the person was to be diabetic reinforcing the weight of their findings. The researchers concluded that chronic arsenic exposure may induce diabetes mellitus in humans.Bottled Water and Home Water Filters Though Americans try to ensure the safety o f their drinking water by paying nearly $2 billion each year for bottled water and home treatment units, the quality of the water they receive may not be any better than tap water.49 Home treatment units, which can cost hundreds of dollars, are virtually unregulated, and while many companies test their filters voluntarily, others fail to do so. There also is no requirement that home treatment units be independently tested to ensure that they meet their claims and provide safe water. Hundreds of times more expensive than tap water, bottled water is often no safer. In fact, one study estimated that as much as one-quarter to one-third of all bottled water sold in the United States comes from water supplied by public water utilities.50 Bottled water is governed by an often less stringent set of regulations set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While the FDA is required to set contaminant standards at the same levels for bottled water as for tap water, these standards in some ca ses still fall short. The FDA generally requires only one chemical test per year, making it unlikely that some important problems will be detected. The standards also fail to account for decreases in microbiological quality caused by long-term water storage, and the results are often not required to be reported to public health authorities. RadiationRadon is an odorless and colorless radioactive gas that generally occurs in drinking water derived from groundwater as a result of the underground decay of naturally-occurring radioactive rock. It is considered to be a known human carcinogen by the National Academy of Sciences and others.56Drinking water contaminated with radon in excess of the EPAs proposed standard of 300 picocuries* per liter of water (pCi/L) flows from the taps and showerheads of over 19 million people according to available EPA data.57 It also is in the water of 81 million people at an average of about 246 pCi/L, posing significant health risks.58 As required by the 1996 amendments to the SDWA, the EPA must establish an enforceable standard for radon in tap water by the year 2000. Radon in drinking water poses significant threats due to inhalation during and after water use.59 The EPA has also found that the ingestion of radon and its decay products poses significant cancer risks.60 The EPA has acknowledged that the cancer risks from radon in both air and water are high and that while the airborne risk typically exceeds that arising from water, the cancer risk in water is higher than the cancer risk estimated to result from any other drinking water contaminant.61