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Toxic pollution is causing widespread cancers and death
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8, 2004

The effects of pollution on human health in recent headlines have been unavoidable

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
-Henry David Thoreau

The effects of pollution on human health in recent headlines have been unavoidable:

1. Mercury levels in fish high enough to cause neurological damage to babies developing in their mother’s wombs.
2. Chemicals used to prevent fires in everyday items such as furniture and computers -- and known to cause developmental problems in test animals -- have been measured in women’s breast milk at troubling levels.
3. High smog areas contribute to or cause asthma in over 9 million children.
4. Since the 1980’s, breast cancer has claimed more American lives than the Vietnam and Korean wars, World War I, and World War II combined.

According to the American Cancer Society’s statistics, more than one in three women and nearly one in two men will face the diagnosis of cancer at some time in their lives. Investigative reporter, Bill Moyers, found that in 1998 alone, American companies manufactured 6.5 trillion pounds of 9,000 different chemicals. And the major companies alone (this does not include the smaller chemical companies) dumped 7.1 billion pounds of 650 chemicals into our air and water. Of the 150 chemicals tested, 84 of the most common chemicals were in his blood. The corporations have not tested the effects of most of these chemicals individually, much less the synergistic effect, to human health.

Two corporations in Harrison County, Mississippi Power Company and DuPont, are responsible for nearly 20 million pounds of toxins in a 20-mile vicinity, statistics that the corporations themselves have reported emitting in 1999 to the Environmental Protection Agency. The statistics for 2000 are even higher and continue to climb annually. And legislation under the “Clear Skies Initiative” will only exacerbate the current situation.

The Gulf Coast of Mississippi has the highest pollution levels in the state. See www.epa.gov/tri, and type in zip codes for 39571 for DuPont DeLisle in Harrison County; 39502 for Mississippi Power’s Plant Watson in Harrison County; 39567 for Northrop Grumman and Mississippi Phosphates in Jackson County; and 39581 for Chevron in Pascagoula. You can also click on “Who is Polluting in Your Community” for more information. 

Another Web resource that is easier to use is www.scorecard.org. If you look at the home page at this site and click on “Which counties have the most dioxin releases?”, you will find that Harrison County is NUMBER ONE IN THE COUNTRY FOR RELEASES OF DIOXIN—one of the most hazardous substances known. Scorecard ranks Harrison County in the top 90 to 100 percent of worstdirtiest counties in the U.S. for total environmental releases. Most of the dioxin is coming from DuPont DeLisle which, instead of reducing dioxin emission, is currently proposing to expand production by 16 percent. Some dioxin is also released by Mississippi Power Company’s coal-fired Plant Watson in Gulfport.

Because of the large amount of toxic releases, the Coast has the highest cancer rates in the state. See the Web site www.nci.nih.gov/. Click on statistics, and then on cancer statistics, and then U.S. Predicted Cancer Incidence, 1999: Complete Maps by County and State from Spatial Projection Models.

According to the National Cancer Institute, prior to 1970 cancer rates among white males was low in the Southeast. But in the recent time period 1970-94, cancer rates soared in the Southeast, particularly along the Coast and the Mississippi River. “Particularly striking was the change from low to high rates across much of the Southeast,” NCI says.

What has changed? The Southeast has become a mecca for industries seeking cheap, non-unionized labor and a “friendly” regulatory climate for pollution controls. Pollution has dramatically increased, with a corresponding negative impact on our health. 

 As Edmund Burke once said, “All that is needed for evil to exist is for a few good men to do nothing.” We can ill-afford to remain complacent any longer.

1) WWLTV, dated 2/ 25/02
2) Seattle Post, 9/2003
3) Washington Post, 2/1/02
4) Toxic Links Coalition, 3/20/02
5) USA Today, 7/28/01