From The Ramparts

                                                 

                                                 From The Ramparts

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                             Environmental Poisoning

            A recent story in a Philadelphia newspaper and Philadelphia television stated many gentrified communities in the Delaware River wards are experiencing a spike in lead poisoning; not in the drinking water or from paint but from the ground!  The article stated the lead comes from old smelters and factories that were prevalent in the city during the nineteenth and twentieth century industrial boom. At one time Philadelphia had the most lead smelting factories in the nation. The lead from these buildings is saturated in the ground. State and local authorities are bickering over whose responsibility it is to clean up and remedy the situation.

            Lead is extremely toxic and can cause severe health defects and conditions. Lead exposure and contamination are major problems throughout modern America not just in Philadelphia or Flint Michigan. Most of the information about the dangers of lead poisoning have focused on children, but lead poisoning is deadly to adults as well. "Here’s what we do know, though: Even low-level exposure can harm your heart, brain, kidneys, and reproductive system. Concentrations of less than 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood—a level the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers toxic and at which it recommends public health intervention—can weaken adult kidney function and increase the risk of kidney disease, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. There are also hints that this level of exposure in adults may contribute to seizures, hearing loss, impairment of cognitive functions (including memory), and the development of Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Scientists are now looking into whether it might exacerbate cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia... Scientists have associated somewhat higher blood lead levels—5 to 10 micrograms per deciliter—with high blood pressure and an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. That’s because our bodies seem to confuse lead with calcium, which plays a vital role in muscle contraction. This mix-up causes tiny muscles around our blood vessels to contract more forcefully than they normally would have, thereby increasing the blood pressure... Black Americans already experience higher rates of cardiovascular health problems than other groups, often due to poor diet, so lead may compound an existing problem in majority-black cities like Flint, 41 percent of whose residents live below the federal poverty threshold." http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/flint-lead-exposure-adult-health-effects/

            But environmental toxicity is not just relegated to Philadelphia and Flint Michigan. In the June 21 edition of the Government Slaves Website http://www.govtslaves.com/these-9-zip-codes-have-dangerously-high-levels-of-toxic-heavy-metals-in-the-municipal-water-supply/ there was an article on environmental toxins with a link to a Natural Science Journal study of three hundred sixty four municipalities by zip codes with high limits of lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, aluminum and cooper http://naturalsciencejournal.org/ICP-MS-Analysis-364-Municipal-Water-Samples.html

            I belong to The Philadelphia Seminar an organization that brings in guest speakers every month to share ideas and topics that impact African Americans. Last week we had Glen Ellis and he specifically told us only twenty percent of the issues that impact our health have anything to do with doctors, medical insurance, coverage or hospitals. The other eighty per cent involves personal lifestyle, our habits, our immediate environment, our mental attitudes and the day to day stress we experience. As an example of environmental factors, he mentioned lead and the deadly effects lead has on humans.