Visions of Green and Blue: August 2009

"Dear Korea" is a new label that I will be using on my blog for posts that refer to the strange, sometimes unexplainable things that I witness daily in Korea. Most of these posts will have to do with the seemingly complete unawareness of the Korean public to their environmental destruction. I do not believe that Koreans conscientiously harm the environment, I believe that the government has not had a chance to promote the urgency of environmental concern and awareness. I am confident that if the Korean public was educated about the importance of environmental sustainability that things in this country would quickly be set in motion.

Having lived in South Korea for the past 15 months (with another 9 to go) I have been able to immerse myself in the culture and have found that at times it is easy to forget that South Korea only recently became a developed nation. All of the major cities are saturated with in-your-face North American brands and mass consumerism runs rampant. However, if you are here long enough you begin to see past the shiny exterior; the not so pleasant smell of open sewage and burning garbage, the visible air pollution, and undrinkable tap-water. Korea is one of the fastest developing countries and has the fourteenth biggest economy in the world. Everywhere you turn enormous stretches of land are being bulldozed to put up yet another mass apartment complex. With all of the hasty developement there is bound to be environmental consequences; here I will do my best to research the topics that I think are the most problematic.

What is in our water?

Labels: water

Image: www.metaefficient.com

In recent years there have been numerous studies regarding drinking water around the world. In most cases these studies have revealed that there are a large number of pharmaceutical ingredients present.
In 2004 the Canadian Government released its findings from its first study of pharmaceuticals in Canadian drinking water. The test samples were taken near 20 water treatment plants in Southern Ontario. Nine different drugs were found in the samples, ranging from painkillers to Prozac. Testing of drinking water in Philadelphia revealed that 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts were present in treated drinking water. And the New York State health department tested the source of the city's water and found heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood-stabilizer, and a tranquilizer.

So how is all of this getting into our drinking water?
Living in a society where it is possible to pop a pill for any pain or ailment is the primary pollution problem. IMS health global services records show that in 1999 the world drug consumption amounted to $342 billion and in 2006 the number almost doubled to $643 billion. A significant proportion of the drugs that we consume are designed to breakdown slowly and are excreted through urine without being fully metabolized by our bodies, and end up in municipal waste water. The human body is able to metabolize 80% of drugs such as the pain-reliever acetaminophem and the antidepressant fluoxetine; however, chemotherapy (methotrexate), diabetes (metformin), and high blood-pressure (atenol) products are excreted practically unchanged, with the body only absorbing 10-20% of the drug.

What are the effects?
The effects on the human body are still widely unknown; however, environmental effects are already visible. Pharmaceuticals seeping into the waterways are disrupting wildlife. The most visible and documented effect is the feminization of male fish. It has also been noted that fish that are exposed to an anti-depressent drug startle less quickly and impairs its ability to eat. There is growing scientific concern that the ingestion of certain drugs, or combination of drugs, may harm humans over decades of consumption through water. There has been speculation over the possible long term effects from the various drugs: chemotherapy medication could act as a powerful poison, hormones could hamper reproduction and development, depression and epilepsy medication could damage the brain or change behavior, and antibiotics could allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms.

What can we do?
Some companies, mainly in Europe, are beginning to use 'Ecolabeling'. This labling can be used on a range of products from over the counter medication to shampoo and house cleaners. The lables provide consumers with trustworthy information regarding the ecological soundness of the product.
If you live in Canada look for Product take-back programs ( www.medicationsreturn.ca)in your area. These programs accept expired or unused medications for environmentally safe disposal.
The two most important steps that we need to take is to educate ourselves and share our knowledge with others. And most importantly reduce your own personal medical consumption. Next time you are about to pop a pill think about this: "Studies show that half the antibiotics prescribed by General Practitioners surgeries are unnecesary. Likewise more than 30 percent of pills work because of a placebo effect: the actual chemicals do nothing" (ECOLOGIST May 2009).

Sources:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_556442.html
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/emma_holister/2004/11/16/prozac_painkillers_hormones_found.htm
http://watertreatment.ca/2009/medication-present-in-st-lawrence-river/
www.medicationsreturn.ca
http://www.ec.gc.ca/INRE-NWRI/default.asp?lang=En&n=C00A589F-1&offset=22&toc=show
http://www.imshealth.com/portal/site/imshealth/

The Mannahatta Project

Photo: Mannahatta Project/Wildlife Conservation Society

http://themannahattaproject.org/home/

The Mannahatta Project at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York city has made it possible for you to imagine what Manhattan looked like circa 1609. In a time before the steel high rises and never ending concrete, the inhabitants were mainly wildlife and the landscape consisted of forests, valleys, hills, and streams.

The website allows you to search by address or by simply clicking on the map. You can explore the wildlife, landscape, and about how the Lenape people possibly used the land before 1609. You can also compare the 1609 map with the map from today.

“The goal of the Mannahatta Project has never been to return Manhattan to its primeval state. The goal of the project is discover something new about a place we all know so well, whether we live in New York or see it on television, and, through that discovery, to alter our way of life. New York does not lack for dystopian visions of the future…. But what is the vision of the future that works? Might it lie in Mannahatta, the green heart of New York, and with a new start to history, a few hours before Hudson arrived that sunny afternoon four hundred years ago?”

- from Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City

Whales being attacked by seagulls.

Labels: ocean, whales

Photo: Mariano Sironi, Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas, Argentina.

Another threat to the survival of southern right whales off the coast of Argentina has been added to the list; seagull attacks.
As the whales surfaces the gulls land and peck through the skin in search of blubber, which is an important source of calories. The bites leave big open wounds, which can reach a half a meter across and have a possibility of transmitting germs. This is not the first time that these attacks have been witnessed. "The attacks around Peninsula Valdes were first noted about 35 years ago but systematic studies have only recently begun. The proportion of whales attacked annually has soared from 1% in 1974 to 78% today"1.
The attacks focus on mothers and calves, as they spend more time at the surface and the calves have softer skin. "The gulls attack force whales to dive and flee, interrupting resting and feeding periods. The animals lose energy normally used to fatten for long migrations or milk production"2. "The mothers spend less time nursing, and we're seeing thinner calves"3.
The gull populations increased with the supply of food from landfills and development of fish processing plants in the areas. Researches fear that if the problem of the gulls is not solved the whales will attempt to travel elsewhere where they could be placing themselves in greater danger.