Re: Frontline
Aleta B Cheal (acheal@juno.com)
Thu, 4 Jun 1998 09:24:04 -0400
The Frontline episode did air when it was supposed to in my area,
Detroit. As I was watching it, I began to feel the same old feelings of
disbelief and frustration that I feel any time I encounter the EPA. It
seems to me that if there is a chance that all of these chemicals are
causing harm to human life, it would be a good idea to ban them or at
least suspend them until there are studies proving them safe for human
use. Maybe I'm a bit of an alarmist. But it sort of defeats the
purpose, I think, to spend years studying the harmful effects of a
chemical, and then take if off the market when it is proven to be harmful
to human health. By then doesn't it seem almost to be too late? The
chemical will already have affected countless numbers of humans and
animals, and who knows how much damage it could cause. The most alarming
part to me about the frontline special was the part about decreases in
IQ. I think that we have already seen some decreases in IQ. As a
college student I have seen among my peers a great decline in the amount
of understanding of what I think most people would consider basic
concepts in science, math, humanities. Many of my peers cannot do simple
math without a calculator, and cannot see any relationship between their
lives and the world around them, including other people, the environment,
etc. It seems frightening that we may someday not be able to use certain
technologies because there won't be anyone who knows how to use them.
I guess that I don't consider the millions or billions of dollars that
can be made (mostly by a few large pesticide companies) by the chemicals
to be worth the potential cost, especially when you factor in the cost of
cleaning them up. THere is a lake near my house that was contaminated
with PCB's. Several famililies who fished and ate out of the lake
regularly reported problems in health, and finally they closed the lake
to the public. They are now in the process of draining the lake and
cleaning the sediment. This project is expected to take at least 3-5
more years and cost several million dollars.
Did anyone else who watched it feel that the woman from the EPA was sort
of kindly putting down environmentalists and acting as if our fears were
unfounded? I can't remember her name, she was the one with the dark curly
hair. I wonder if her position would change if the pesticides and
chemicals were going to directly affect her friends and family.
Aleta Cheal
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