Over the past couple decades air pollution in New Hampshire has gotten worse. This also goes for the whole world. "From Beijing to Berlin, New Delhi, improving air quality is a matter of life or death."
Saint Gobain Performance Plastics in Merrimack was tested and was found to have been polluting the air, soil, and groundwater with chemicals emitted from their stacks. Emily Corwin, an investigative reporter found that Saint Gobain had previously been in Bennington, VT, but moved to New Hampshire because they had less strict environmental regulations.(Messmer)
The chemicals emitted are per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS. These chemicals are used to make surfaces resistant to high temperatures and moisture. The EPA detected 190 PFAS compounds in the air emissions. These emissions then find their way into the water. "St. Gobain had to provide bottled water to about 120 additional residents and is sampling 350 more."(Messmer)
All of the pollution is effecting the greater Merrimack area. This area will keep growing. It is crazy to me that New Hampshire is effected by these bad emissions. When you think of New Hampshire you think of trees and nature. People shouldn't have to get bottled water because a company is polluting so much chemicals.
Unfortunately New Hampshire is just one of the many places where pollution has become an issue. In many countries people have to wear masks when they go outside. "The World Health Organization estimates that outdoor air pollution kills 4.2 million people each year.(Tyrone)" More than 90% of people are living in places where WHO air quality guidelines are broken. That means 90% of people are overexposed too many toxic things that can lead to heart and respiratory diseases and cancer. (Tyrone)
Many of the countries affected are still developing and depend on the factories and business that produce the harmful things into the air. "1.1 million Chinese a year are killed and it costs the economy 37 billion and the country continues to build power plants that burn coal.(Tyrone)" It actually costs more money to pay for medicare and missed work then it would to have cleaner energy sources. (Tyrone)
Factories around the world produce so much harmful toxins into our air because it's cheaper. Would you rather have people die or pay a little bit extra. There are many alternatives to coal and fossil fuels. Solar power, hydropower, wind power, etc. (Sunszine) are some of our natural resources we can use that are clean alternatives.
Works Cited
Autism's connection with air pollution explored in research Evidence links
airborne particles to condition but more studies are needed Thu, Jan 31,
2019, 01:00 Anthony King A child wears a face-mask to protect against air
pollution in Beijing, China: several studies show traffic exhaust to be
quite toxic. Photograph: Rolex dela Pena/EPA A child wears a face-mask to
protect against air pollution in Beijing. The Irish Times, 31 Jan. 2019,
www.irishtimes.com/news/science/
autism-s-connection-with-air-pollution-explored-in-research-1.3768000.
Messmer, Mindi. "My Turn: A New Hampshire environmental tragedy." Concord
Monitor [Concord], 19 Nov. 2019, Opinion sec. Concord Monitor,
www.concordmonitor.com/NH-environmental-tragedy-30524663. Accessed 19 Nov.
2019.
The ozone pollution map for New Hampshire on Tuesday, Aug. 7. New Hampshire
Public Radio, nhpr, 7 Aug. 2018, www.nhpr.org/post/
southeast-nh-higher-elevations-will-see-poor-air-quality-week#stream/0.
Sunszine, Jin. "What Could We Use Instead of Fossil Fuels?" ITSTILLRUNS,
itstillruns.com/could-use-instead-fossil-fuels-5117837.html.
Tirone, Jonathan. "Air Pollution." The Washington Post [Washington, D.C.], 6
Nov. 2019. The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/
air-pollution/2019/11/06/9487ebfe-007b-11ea-8341-cc3dce52e7de_story.html.
Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.
Saint Gobain Performance Plastics in Merrimack was tested and was found to have been polluting the air, soil, and groundwater with chemicals emitted from their stacks. Emily Corwin, an investigative reporter found that Saint Gobain had previously been in Bennington, VT, but moved to New Hampshire because they had less strict environmental regulations.(Messmer)
 |
| The ozone pollution map in New Hampshire (The ozone) |
All of the pollution is effecting the greater Merrimack area. This area will keep growing. It is crazy to me that New Hampshire is effected by these bad emissions. When you think of New Hampshire you think of trees and nature. People shouldn't have to get bottled water because a company is polluting so much chemicals.
 |
| Child wears a face mask to protect against pollution in Beijing, China (Autisms connection...) |
Unfortunately New Hampshire is just one of the many places where pollution has become an issue. In many countries people have to wear masks when they go outside. "The World Health Organization estimates that outdoor air pollution kills 4.2 million people each year.(Tyrone)" More than 90% of people are living in places where WHO air quality guidelines are broken. That means 90% of people are overexposed too many toxic things that can lead to heart and respiratory diseases and cancer. (Tyrone)
Many of the countries affected are still developing and depend on the factories and business that produce the harmful things into the air. "1.1 million Chinese a year are killed and it costs the economy 37 billion and the country continues to build power plants that burn coal.(Tyrone)" It actually costs more money to pay for medicare and missed work then it would to have cleaner energy sources. (Tyrone)
Factories around the world produce so much harmful toxins into our air because it's cheaper. Would you rather have people die or pay a little bit extra. There are many alternatives to coal and fossil fuels. Solar power, hydropower, wind power, etc. (Sunszine) are some of our natural resources we can use that are clean alternatives.
Works Cited
Autism's connection with air pollution explored in research Evidence links
airborne particles to condition but more studies are needed Thu, Jan 31,
2019, 01:00 Anthony King A child wears a face-mask to protect against air
pollution in Beijing, China: several studies show traffic exhaust to be
quite toxic. Photograph: Rolex dela Pena/EPA A child wears a face-mask to
protect against air pollution in Beijing. The Irish Times, 31 Jan. 2019,
www.irishtimes.com/news/science/
autism-s-connection-with-air-pollution-explored-in-research-1.3768000.
Messmer, Mindi. "My Turn: A New Hampshire environmental tragedy." Concord
Monitor [Concord], 19 Nov. 2019, Opinion sec. Concord Monitor,
www.concordmonitor.com/NH-environmental-tragedy-30524663. Accessed 19 Nov.
2019.
The ozone pollution map for New Hampshire on Tuesday, Aug. 7. New Hampshire
Public Radio, nhpr, 7 Aug. 2018, www.nhpr.org/post/
southeast-nh-higher-elevations-will-see-poor-air-quality-week#stream/0.
Sunszine, Jin. "What Could We Use Instead of Fossil Fuels?" ITSTILLRUNS,
itstillruns.com/could-use-instead-fossil-fuels-5117837.html.
Tirone, Jonathan. "Air Pollution." The Washington Post [Washington, D.C.], 6
Nov. 2019. The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/
air-pollution/2019/11/06/9487ebfe-007b-11ea-8341-cc3dce52e7de_story.html.
Accessed 6 Nov. 2019.
Stella, I love your post! It's super informative and has a lot of emotional impact! What are things people can do in their everyday lives, if anything, to improve the air quality?
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple things that everyone could do. One is use less gas or use more efficient cars. You could also use less energy in your house.
DeleteWhile I understand how shifting energy sources would help with some of the pollution, would that help with the kind of pollution that is occurring in New Hampshire? What happened to Saint Gobain as a result of the chemicals leeching into the water?
ReplyDeleteI like the image of the child with the face mask you included because I feel as though it helps emphasize your opinion on pollution being harmful. You named some of the alternative energy sources, how could we get everyone internationally on board with switching to a renewable energy source such as solar energy?
ReplyDeleteVery nice post Stella! Given that Saint Gobain is known to be the cause of these issues, are regulations being made to stop their pollution? Is the government or the business doing anything to fix the problem?
ReplyDelete