5.7 Sewage Facilities

Where are the sewage treatment facilities in your community? 

Oakland has one sewage facility run by the East Bay Municipal Utility District and it is located near the bay bridge. 

5.5 Campaign for Tap Water

If I made a campaign for tap water, it would be:

5.4 CCR

• What is the source of your drinking water? Where does your water ORIGINATE? (It is treated at a water treatment plant, but what watershed or aquifer is the sources of the water?)

I live in Oakland and my water is treated at the Orinda water treatment plant but it also served as needed by upper San Leandro water treatment plant. The water comes from the Mokelumne River on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. 

• What chemicals were found in your water that were higher than expected?

Chromium and Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) both are linked to cancer. One comes as a result of Industry and the other as a treatment by-product. The lead was also pretty high, but the quality report suggests that the source of lead in the water is a result of corrosion from household plumbing. 

• What chemicals did you NOT expect to find in your water?

I did not expect to find trihalomethanes, and I had to google what chromium was. 

• Are there associated health risks with the chemicals found in your water? (sources for this last question include the EPA, CDC, ATSDR and the National Library of Medicine's ToxNet program).

Lead can have serious health problems, and TTHMs are linked to an increased risk of bladder and colorectal cancers and also linked to heart, lung, kidney, liver, and central nervous system damage. the most interesting thing I found, however, is that some studies have linked TTHMs with reproductive problems including miscarriage. 

I don't usually drink tap water, mostly for aesthetic reasons I suppose. I can be slightly picky about the smell and taste of the water I drink, but to be completely honest I never would have guessed that tap water could be contaminated with so many chemicals that are linked to serious health effects. 

5.2 Importance of Safe Drinking Water

Watching the videos on water facts, groundwater, and the clean water drinking act made me realize how quickly bodies of water are disappearing. It also reminded me of a lecture I had in one of my anthropology classes in undergrad. In my anthropology class, we talked about aquifers and how Porterville, California is sinking at an alarming rate due to groundwater depletion. Ironically, despite sitting on a large aquifer, wells in East Porterville have gone dry because the water from the aquifer is being used for other cities. My professor ended that lecture by saying that he believed the next war would be the water war. This also made me think about how many people are deciding not to have kids due to the uncertainty of the ecological future. It is insane that we continue to pollute our most precious resource. Even with the Clean Water Act of 1972, water pollution continues to happen, and it can take years to repair the damage. I'm specifically referring to the two superfund sites in my county that have contaminated the water.

In such a short amount of time, we have drastically changed the course of our most precious resource, water,  leaving our ecological future hanging in the balance. We need stricter regulations and laws around water usage and conservation.

4.6 Radon

National awareness campaign for radon. 

Many people are aware that smoking can lead to lung cancer, yet, few are aware of that radon exposure may lead to lung cancer as well. I would also assume that many are unaware that they are potentially being exposed to radon daily in their homes!

My national awareness campaign would happen in the form of a Fact Sheet. Similar to the one I quickly created below, but it would contain more information. 

My campaign would specifically target parents of school aged children, social media users, and homeowners. The campaign would align with the two national organizations such as American Lung Association and American Public Health Association. At the county level we would partner with non profit organizations, for example in Santa Clara County we would partner with Healthier Kids Foundation. 

We would spread our message in 3 different ways. 

1. District wide through elementary, middle, and high schools to raise awareness among parents about the potential danger in their home.

2. Through social media such as Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit.

3. Through the mail 

3.4 Air Pollution

Using your zip code (or the zip code from your family home, find out the following and enter info in your BLOG.

According to the scorecard website my county was ranked among the dirtiest/worst 20% of all counties in the U.S. Which honestly does not suprise me. 

• Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
• The largest polluter in my country is New United Motor MFG. INC. with a whopping 499,459 pounds. The second polluter is Arch Mirror West with 44,985 pounds. That is a huge difference. 

• What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?
• 3 percent of homes in my county have a high risk of lead hazards. 

• Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  (In your BLOG, make sure to tell us what a Superfund Site is)
• I had no idea what a superfund site was prior to reading this website. According to the EPA, a superfund site is land which has been contanimated by hazardous waste and has to be cleaned up due to health/environtmal risks it may cause. There are four superfund sites within the county. 

• What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
• Of the four superfund sites in my country, two are owned by the Department of Energy, another is the Alameda Naval Air Station, and the other is owned by AMCO chemical. I also learned that two have previously caused water contamination. Also two of these superfund sites are in mixed residential housing locations. 

• What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?
• My county is among the worst for carbon monoxide, nitrogen, sukfer dioxide, and volatile organic compound emissions. 

• How about the water quality?
• Apparently the water quality in my county is among the dirtiest/worst in the nation.

• How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
• For the most part people of color had a high rate of being exposed to air pollutants, and cancer risks. However in almost every category, whites and high income families had a higher risk of being exposed to toxic chemicals. I found that super interesting.

3.3 Environmental Justice

Blog about your observations/thoughts regarding environmental justice.

Minorities in the US are faced with many injustices daily. They have a higher risk of death and disease and often find themselves living below the poverty line and exposed to various toxins. Social determinants, racism, and justice movements are all interwoven. Reading about environmental justice made me realize how closely racism and social determinants are related. The social determinants of people of color are decided by the different types of racism they face, such as environmental racism which is seen with lack of green space in poor communities and institutional racism, which sees people of color affected by higher rates of disease and incarceration.

I think it is in the best interest of those in the environmental justice movement to align themselves with other movements, such as Black Lives Matter. People of color are exposed to various types of racism, injustices and health risks, that even if they overcome one, they remain susceptible to other various others.

3.2 Obesity

Why are we still ONLY focused on sedentary lifestyles and diets when addressing obesity in the US? Why are we not also looking at ways to decrease exposures to those chemicals that may be contributing to the epidemic?

I believe there are two reasons why we focus on sedentary lifestyles and diet when addressing obesity: it's easier to blame the individual, and companies want to make a profit. 

It's common for people to think that the reason why some people are obese is due to them being lazy. Studies show that people who are obese are often discriminated against because of how they look. For example, a study conducted by Flint et al., (2016) demonstrated shocking results: you are less likely to be hired if you are obese. 

It's easy to blame individuals for their problems, and by blaming the individual then you repress the problem. This is especially beneficial for companies. From a company perspective it's their goal to make money to stay afloat. Even though mounting evidence suggets that certain chemicals maybe linked to obesity, they would never admit their role in this problem. They do not care about the individual, they care about profit. Obesity is such a complex problem, and a large contriubuting facotr is obesogenic environments, which are rooted in profit. Despite all of this, no one will ever admit to it. As long as you don't admit to it, it doesn't exist, and isn't a problem.  

Flint, S. W., Čadek, M., Codreanu, S. C., Ivić, V., Zomer, C., & Gomoiu, A. (2016). Obesity Discrimination in the Recruitment Process: "You're Not Hired!". Frontiers in psychology, 7, 647. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00647

3.1 Biomonitoring

Lab Results from Blood and Urine Samples

The following chemicals were found at levels for which there are no “safe” levels

Chemical(s)	Potential Health Effects
Dioxins	Carcinogen, endocrine disruptor, cognitive disfunction
DDT	Reproductive toxicant
Organophosphate	(pesticide) neurotoxicant, Parkinson’s
Lead	Neurotoxicant, kidney toxicant, insomnia, impotence
Solvent	Liver toxicant, neurotoxicant
PCBs	Carcinogen, toxic to immune, neuro, and repro systems
Phthalates	Repro toxicant (infertility), testicular damage, endometriosis, endocrine disruptor

In your Blog, discuss your first thoughts AND feelings upon getting this news.

After receiving the blood and urine samples, I immediatley feel shocked. I recognize many of the chemicals but am unware with how I would have been exposed to them. I, a public health major, know so much less than I thought I did. How could I be so unaware? This is the craziest thing to me: there are potentially dangerous health effects caused by chemicals in products we use daily or weekly, and most of us are completely unaware. 

I then immediately shift my focus to DDT which has been outlawed in the United States but is continually used in other countries. I realize that this potentially means that if other countries are using DDT agriculturally then not only are those people being exposed to a toxic chemical but potentially so are we if they ship fruits and vegetables to the United States. 

I also feel sad thinking about my potential future as a mother. I'm glad I am aware of these chemicals and their effects now so that I can avoid as many of these as I can when/if I were ever to be pregnant. I think if I were to give birth to a child who had a birth defect that was linked to these chemicals I would be heartbroken. Which makes me feel heartbroken for all the agricultural working women here in the US, and beyond, who are constantly exposed to toxic pesticides. 

I think to sum up my feelings overall tho, I would say I just feel hopeless. It seems like everything is either killing us or the earth, and all for what? To turn a profit.