A Dream for a Better World

Some related experiments have displayed that chemical toxins contained in children’s products could show their danger as well as disservice within a long period. Invisible pollution is always more terrible. Phthalates, is a kind of plasticizer which can soften PVC. At present, the material has been widely using in our daily products, ranging from cosmetics such as nail polish, hair sprays, and skin care and cosmetics, clothes, bags, children’s products, for example, helmets for roller skating, medical device, raincoats, curtains in bathroom, decoration materials to cleaning supplies. In recent years, some researches have made people start to worry about the material they are touching and using. Experiments manifest that phthalates could disturb animals’ hormone system including people’s and damage the production of androgen. What is worse, the harmful material can even lead to cancer. In addition, phthalates added into plastics is not closely adhered to the latter. When it meets with fat, saliva and high temperature, it will dissolve by means of mechanical pressure. Therefore, since the year 1999, the European Union has started to forbid the usage of 6 kinds of phthalates in children’s products. Another kind of plasticizer is called BPA, which is used for enhancing the hardness as well as strength of plastics. Baby bottle is not fragile due to the effect of BPA. BPA is not only put into children’s products but also can be found in some containers for loading food. The material is able to imitate people’s androgen and change the structure and chemicals of brain. In addition, BPA can also change immune system as well as reproductive organs. Even a small quantity of BPA could cause diseases about breast, prostate and other organs. When being heat or washed by mechanical force, BPA could be released from polycarbonate plastics and dissolves into the solution of the container.
As human beings have known the disadvantages caused by those toxins, they start to take measures to reduce or eliminate the usage of them. In June 2006, the Regulatory Commission of San Francisco adopted related regulation for forbidding the usage of phthalates and BPA in children’s toys as well as other items. The decree was planned to be effective in December of 2006 but the implementation was strongly opposed by some big toy manufacturers. In order to maintain their own profit, those companies accessed to lawsuit and implementation of the decree was delayed. The ban for chemical toxins usage has suffered from much criticism and the implementation was not easy. Many scientists who engage in research on harmful chemical materials, also advocate the ideas to forbid toxins use. In the year 2007, more than 200 top environmentalists met together and warned people that common harm chemical products including the two mentioned above could cause various problems for babies’ health such as diabetes, attention deficit disorder, cancer, fertility problems, thyroid disorder and obesity etc. In recent years, more and more people have paid attention to their children’s products and some poisoning events also make people be more careful when selecting items for kids. Nowadays, many people always avoid using items containing chemicals. If the ban can be smoothly implemented, everything will be better.

When we hear that an animal is on the edge of extinction, that means the animal will disappear in the world forever and it can not be found in the ecosystem. At present, the polar bear has been listed as one of endangered animals in the globe. Among 19 subspecies, 8 of them are decreasing. For thousands of years, polar bear is always the key symbol for the local people in material, spiritual and cultural aspects. In addition, polar bear hunting is also a kind of essential activity is their daily life. However, in recent years, people’s unrestricted hunting for polar bears has caused the cancer of the international community.
Most polar bears which are the largest terrestrial predators in the world live within the Arctic Circle and they live on the ocean and land near to arctic area. Polar bear is the biggest bear in the globe and the body length is up to more than 3m. The weight of a grown-up male polar bear ranges from 350kg to 680kg and the figure of a grown-up female polar bear is half of that of the grown-up male polar bears. In order to hunt food in the environment with ice, snow and icy sea, their bodies have adjusted to the environment for many years. Polar bears are used to living in cold environment and they can bear the temperature about -45℃ and they can healthily grow up. Although most polar bears are born on the land, they spend most time living in the ocean. Therefore, they are also called “costal bears”. But the animal is a loser when it struggle with the changing climate.
Scientists have found that polar bears are facing danger because of climate change and environmental pollution. Unfortunately, those problems are caused by human beings. In past 50 years, the temperature of arctic area in Canada has increased 4℃. In addition, the temperature in arctic area is much faster than that of other regions in the world. The ice in arctic area is melting and it is undoubtedly a bad news for polar bears. On one hand, when the ice is melting, the distance between the ocean and the land becomes farther and polar bears have to swim more. Actually, polar bears are not very great swimmers so some may be drowned and others also can not be strong enough to hunt food due to long distance swimming. On other hand, polar bears mainly live on seals. About 1500 seals are born every year but as the ice is melting, many baby seals are drowned. In the 20st century, the quantity of seals has decreased from 180,000 to 8500. as for pollution, some toxic chemicals and sea water arrive in the arctic area such as mercury, chemical cooling agents and hazardous control agents etc. most of these materials are fat-soluble and they accumulate in other animals’ body which would be eaten by polar bears.
Polar bears continue decreasing and maybe they will be extinct in next some years. So what should human beings do at present?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that it plans to do away with publishing its national survey tracking pesticide use, despite opposition from prominent scientists, the nation’s largest farming organizations and environmental groups.  The groups’ concern is that if the public doesn’t know what’s being used, then they won’t know what to look for.  Furthermore, in the absence of information, people can be lulled into thinking that there are no problems with the use of pesticides on food in this country.  Since 1990, farmers and consumer advocates have relied on the agency’s detailed annual report to learn which states apply the most pesticides and where bug and weed killers are most heavily sprayed. The EPA also uses the data when figuring out how chemicals should be regulated, and which pesticides pose the greatest risk to public health.

Why are businesses allowed to dump their pollutants into waterways?  Yes, it gets cleaned up at the water recycling plant, but what happens when something goes wrong.  Have you ever been told not to drink the water because of power outage or some other reason?  Well those chemicals are in our pipes and even after you say we can drink the water some goes through.  You say well, the pollution in the water is within safe limits.  That may be true, but why allow any at all?  Why can’t your safe limits be 0.00% mercury, 0.00% for all other pollutants.  This may sound like a dream, but it is possible if you made it impossible for businesses to dump their pollutants.

 Clean up our water!