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Water is a fundamental part of life, but it’s also incredibly fragile. Even the smallest amount of pollution can affect the quality of water, which means that it can be hard to know if your drinking water is safe.
There are many different types of contaminants that can pollute water, including bacteria and viruses. Some of these contaminants are naturally occurring, while others are added by people who live near bodies of water. There are also some contaminants that don’t come from living things at all – they’re industrial pollutants that have seeped into the ground and into our lakes and rivers.
Water contamination has become a serious issue over the last few decades as more people have moved closer together and started using chemicals in their everyday lives. The problem isn’t just that we’re polluting our own drinking water supplies – it’s also that this pollution has been found in places far away from where it originated.
Benzene
Benzene is a common contaminant found in polluted water. It can be found in gasoline, oil, and paint. When it comes into contact with water, it can cause serious health problems.
Benzene has been linked to cancer, including leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. According to the CDC, long-term exposure to benzene has a substantial impact on the blood. A year or more of exposure is considered long-term. Anemia may result from benzene’s damaging effects on the bone marrow and possible reduction in red blood cell production. Additionally, it can weaken the immune system, which raises the risk of infection, and can lead to excessive bleeding.
Camp Lejeune was a Marine Corps base located in North Carolina. In the 1980s, many Marines were exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune because of the presence of benzene. Benzene was present due to leaks from storage tanks that contained fuel or solvents used in cleaning equipment or painting buildings on the base.
However, despite this settlement agreement and evidence of contamination, many people are still fighting for their rights through Camp Lejeune Lawsuit. They feel they’ve been wronged by the government once again by not being told about the dangers of drinking contaminated water or being exposed to other chemicals on base.
Lead
Lead is a heavy metal, and it can be found in polluted water when there are older pipes in the area that contain lead. In the past, there have been several incidents of lead contamination in water.
For example, in 2014 in Flint, Michigan, residents of the city were exposed to lead after an emergency manager switched the city’s water source from Detroit’s systems to the Flint River. This led to widespread contamination of the water with lead because of corroded pipes. For 18 months, over 9,000 children in Flint received water that was tainted with lead. This is notoriously known as the flint water crisis.
Lead is toxic to the human body, even at low levels of exposure. Drinking water containing lead can cause serious health problems such as damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development in young children, learning disabilities, reduced fertility, high blood pressure, and kidney disease.
As per the CDC, 3.6 million American families are at risk of their children suffering lifelong injuries because their homes contain lead-based paint. The figures are glaring, and authorities need to ensure a clean water supply to every home in order to protect the health of the citizens.
Fluoride
Fluoride is a mineral that’s found almost everywhere in nature. It’s even naturally present in our drinking water, and at very low levels, it’s actually good for your teeth.
But high levels of fluoride can cause bone and dental problems. That’s why we only add fluoride to the water supply in some places – and those places have strict limits on how much fluoride they allow in their water. In other areas, people have to get their fluoride from toothpaste or supplements.
When it comes to polluted water, many things can contaminate it and make it unsafe for people who drink it. But one of the most common contaminants is fluoride.
People are developing tooth discoloration, a primary sign of dental fluorosis brought on by excessive fluoride use, in villages all over central India. Bone abnormalities in people in their 30s and 40s are thought to be caused by prolonged exposure to contaminated water. The residents of the villages blamed their ill health on the contaminated groundwater that has a high level of fluoride, which has been an issue here for decades.
Conclusion
Water is one of the most important resources we have on Earth, but it’s also one of the most polluted.
The contaminants in polluted water can be harmful to your health, but they can also affect local ecosystems and wildlife. The good news is that there are ways to treat contaminated water so that it’s safe for people and animals again.
Local authorities, shareholders, and common people need to come forward and contribute their efforts to get clean and healthy water.
