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Sunday, April 24, 2016

IN HARM'S WAY AND NO WAY OUT. MOST TOXIC PLACES ON EARTH.

WHAT WOULD WE DO IF OUR CHILDREN WERE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY BUT WE KNEW THAT THE ONLY AVAILABLE FOOD OR DRINK WAS  CONTAMINATED BY RADIATION?

THIS IS WHAT SOME FAMILIES ARE FACING IN THE UKRAINE, IN JAPAN, NEAR HANFORD IN WASHINGTON STATE, USA, NEAR SELLAFIELD  IN THE UK, IN PROBABLY HUNDREDS OF PLACES  ACROSS THE EARTH.

IN THIS CASE, AS IS THE CASE WITH ALL HEAVILY CONTAMINATED AREAS IN EVERY NATION, IT'S THE CHILDREN WHO HAVE NO WAY TO MOVE OUT OF HARM'S WAY, AND, AFTER ALL, AREN'T THEY THE ONLY INNOCENTS IN THIS? 

IF THEIR PARENTS CAN'T AFFORD TO MOVE AWAY, THE KIDS ARE TRAPPED AS WELL.

THE SAME GOES FOR WAR ZONES.

MY ELDERS ALWAYS TOLD US THAT IF WE WANTED THE FACTS ON A HORSE TO GO TO THE HORSE'S MOUTH...MEANING GO ASK THE PERSON(S) THEMSELVES, SO THAT'S WHAT I'VE DONE, AS BEST I CAN, FINDING ARTICLES THAT ALLOW VOICES OF THE LOCALS TO TELL US THE TRUTH.

[Addendum: September 11, 2016:This post, "In Harm's Way", like all my posts, come from a mind and a heart that has seen "medicine" and all it entails from the inside....for almost 3 decades I was privy to more information than most would like to deal with when it comes to the hazards facing patients being treated in America. There is SO much that patients simply are not told because it's deemed unwise to mention some things.
I am facing a surgery this month that gives me a 50-50 chance of survival for 1 year and a <30% survival chance for 5 years, but it has to happen.
I promise you, all I write, all I have ever written is with the knowledge that my next breath could be my last.
I will NOT lie, will NOT sugar-coat, will NOT blow things out of proportion, but may, unwittingly, not dive in far enough to PROPERLY inform you all of the FACTS.

If I fail to present ALL the knowledge about any topic, it's because there is neither enough time nor enough space on the entire internet to post ALL the facts, ALL the TRUTH, but TRUTH is all that's spoken here, as much a I can put here in a single blog. 
I just wanted you to know this....just in case.]

Associated Press |
ZALYSHANY, Ukraine (NEAR CHERNOBYL)  

Viktoria Vetrova knows the risk her four children take in drinking milk from the family’s two cows and eating dried mushrooms and berries from the forest.
But the cash-strapped Ukrainian government canceled the local school lunch program for 350,000 children last year — the only source of clean food in this village near Chernobyl.
“Hot meals in the schools were the only clean food, which was tested for radiation, for the children,” teacher Natalya Stepanchuk said.

“Now the children have gone over to the local food, over which there is absolutely no control.”
And beyond Zalyshany, there are some 1,300 settlements in the zone where the lunches were canceled. Even when the lunches were available, children were likely eating contaminated food when out of school.
So rural families are resorting to milk and produce from land still contaminated by fallout from the world’s worst nuclear accident three decades ago.


Vetrova’s 8-year-old son, Bogdan, suffers from an enlarged thyroid, a condition that studies have linked to radioactivity.  

A European Union-funded study tracking 4,000 children for three years in contaminated areas also found cardiovascular insufficiencies in 81 percent of the children.

Ukraine’s Institute of Agricultural Radiology says the most recent testing in the zone showed radiation levels in wild-grown food such as nuts, berries and mushrooms were two to five times higher than what is considered safe.
“We are aware of the dangers, but what can we do?” said Vetrova, standing in her kitchen after pouring a glass of milk.
 “There is no other way to survive.”

Vetrova’s family and thousands of others are caught between the consequences of two disasters: the residue from Chernobyl and the recent plunge of Ukraine’s economy.

After the April 26, 1986, explosion and fire, the most heavily affected areas in Ukraine were classified into four zones. 

Residents from three of them were evacuated or allowed to volunteer for resettlement. 
But the village of Zalyshany, 32 miles southwest of the destroyed reactor, is in the fourth zone — not contaminated enough for resettlement but eligible for subsidies to help with health issues.

In 2012, the government halted the monitoring of radioactive contamination of food and soil in Zone 4, which was called the “zone of strict radio-ecological control.”  

The state has also canceled a program for buying Ferocin, known as Prussian Blue, a substance farmers could give their cattle to hasten the elimination of the cesium-137 isotope. 

Without financial help, farmers in the area are unwilling to buy it on their own.

“The government spends huge funds for the treatment of the local population, but cannot put out a little money on prevention,” said Valery Kashparov, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology. 
“I am ashamed to look people in the eye.”

Yuri Bandazhevsky, a pediatrician who has studied the effect of small doses of radiation on the human body, said there are “very serious pathological processes” which can lead to defects of the cardiovascular system and cancer.


Bandazhevsky, whose work is widely cited abroad, was imprisoned in his native Belarus for four years.

Supporters allege it was due to his work on studying Chernobyl’s consequences; he now works in Ukraine.

“With regret, I have to state that nobody cares about this, and those hungry children are another proof of how authorities treat a population which suffers on these territories,” he said.

Nadezhda Ivanchenko, whose grandson was monitored in the European Union study, agreed that the government seems callous. 

She brought the 10-year-old boy for examination at the hospital in the district center of Ivankiv. He shows advanced sinus arrhythmia of the heart.

“People get sick a lot, but neither children nor anyone here are needed. 
We were thrown away and forgotten,” she said.

Olesya, the 9-year-old who now often has to go without lunch, wants to eventually become a doctor, so she can “treat everybody for radiation.” 

But for right now, her desire is to fill her stomach with treats foraged from the woods." 

AND WE SINCERELY HOPE SHE LIVES TO FOLLOW HER DREAM.  
 
IT ISN'T JUST THE CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES NEAR CHERNOBYL, FUKUSHIMA AND THE OTHER AREAS MENTIONED ABOVE.
INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION, FROM MINING, CHEMICALS (INCLUDING SOME 'FERTILIZERS' AND PESTICIDES), NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL, AND THE HEAVY USE OF COAL FOR FUEL HAVE ALL TAKEN TOLLS ON THE CHILDREN OF OUR PLANET.
WHEN READING THE NUMBERS OF THOSE AFFECTED IN THE SHORT LIST BELOW, KEEP IN MIND THAT MOST OF THESE WILL BE CHILDREN.
Potentially Affected People: 25,000
Type of Pollutants: Uranium
Mailuu-Suu is home to nearly 2 million cubic meters of radioactive mining waste that threatens the entire Ferghana valley, one of the most fertile and densely populated areas in Central Asia. 
There are twenty three tailing dumps and thirteen waste rock dumps scattered throughout Mailuu-Suu.

This area also experiences high rates of seismic activity a landslide could disturb one of the dumps and expose radioactive material or force it into nearby rivers.

This fear was nearly realized in 2002 when a huge mudslide blocked the course of the Mailuu-Suu River and threatened to submerge one waste site.

In 2006, about 300,000 cubic meters of material fell into the Mailuu-Suu River near the uranium mine tailings, the result of yet another landslide.

Dzerzhinsk, Russia
  • Potentially Affected People: 300,000
  • Type of Pollutants: Chemicals and toxic byproducts, including Sarin, VX gas, etc. Also lead, phenols.
Until the end of the Cold War, Dzerzhinsk was one of Russia's principal manufacturing sites of chemical weapons. Nearly 300,000 tons of chemical waste were improperly disposed of there between 1930 and 1998, leading the Guinness Book of World Records to name it the most chemically polluted city in the world.

In 2003, the death rate in the area was reported to exceed the birth rate by 260 percent, and the average life expectancy was reported to be 42 years for men and 47 for women. 
A quarter of the city's 300,000 residents are still employed in factories that produce toxic chemicals.

Number of people potentially affected: 255,000
Type of pollutant: Lead and cadmium

 
A legacy of decades of lead and zinc mining have left a city poisoned by debilitating concentrations of lead dust in the soil and by metals in the water.

When rich deposits of lead were discovered near Kabwe in 1902, Zambia was a British colony called Northern Rhodesia, and little concern was given for the impact that the toxic metal might have on native Zambians.

Sadly, there's been almost no improvement in the decades since, and though the mines and smelter are no longer operating, lead levels in Kabwe are astronomical.

Child blood levels of lead are on average five to 10 times the allowable EPA maximum.

From TIME magazine:
Number of people potentially affected: 35,000
Type of pollutant: Lead, copper, zinc and sulfur dioxide 

At the mining town of La Oroya, toxic emissions from the metal processing plant owned by the Missouri-based Doe Run Corporation have been largely responsible for dangerously high levels of lead in the blood of 99 percent of the children living in and around the area. 

Lead is the contaminant that shows up most frequently on Blacksmith's list because the toll it takes on children can be so devastating.
In La Oroya, a mining town in the Peruvian Andes, 99% of children have blood levels that exceed acceptable limits, thanks to an American-owned smelter that has been polluting the city since 1922.

Extremely high rates of premature deaths are linked to noxious gasses from the smelter, and lung-related ailments are commonplace.
Vegetation in the surrounding area has been destroyed by acid rain due to high sulfur dioxide emissions.

Number of people potentially affected: 3,000,000   
Type of pollutant: Coal and particulates 

At Linfen, residents have said they literally choke on coal dust in the evenings. 

This city lies in Shanxi province in China, the heart of the country's enormous and expanding coal industry, which provides roughly two-thirds of the nation's energy. 

China has noted that Linfen has the worst air quality in the country, but it exemplifies many cities in the nation and the World Bank has stated that 16 out of 20 of the world's worst polluted cities are in China. 

The city does plan to replace small, highly polluting plants with larger, cleaner, more regulated facilities, and toxic emissions will be cut further by shifting from coal to gas for central heating.


Number of people potentially affected: 134,000
Type of pollutant: Air pollution  particulates, sulfur dioxide, heavy metals, phenols

More than 4 million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium and zinc are released into the air every year.
"Within 30 miles (48 km) of the nickel smelter there's not a single living tree," says Fuller. "It's just a wasteland."
An industrial city founded in 1935 as a slave labor camp, the Siberian city of Norilsk houses the world's largest heavy metals smelting complex. 

The city has been accused of being one of the most polluted places in Russia, where the snow is black, the air tastes of sulfur and the life expectancy for factory workers is 10 years below the Russian average. 

Children suffer from numerous respiratory diseases, which account for 15.8 percent of all deaths among children. Premature births and late-term pregnancy complications are also frequent.

 Number of people potentially affected: 2,600,000
Type of pollutant: Hexavalent chromium and other metals

Sukinda contains more than 97 percent of India's chromite ore deposits. 

Twelve mines operate without environmental controls, leaching hexavalent chromium into drinking water supplies. 

More than 30 million tons of waste rock are spread over the surrounding areas, and untreated water is discharged by the mines into the river.  

Chromite mine workers are constantly exposed to contaminated dust and water, and gastrointestinal bleeding, tuberculosis and asthma are common ailments.
 
Local research suggests nearly 25 percent of the inhabitants roughly a half-mile (1 km) from the sites are suffering from pollution-induced diseases.

There has been virtually no attempt to clean up the contamination.



Vapi, India
 Number of people potentially affected: 71,000
Type of pollutant: Chemicals and heavy metals

Levels of mercury in the city's groundwater are reportedly 96 times higher than WHO safety levels, and heavy metals are present in the air and the local produce.

For the citizens of Vapi, the cost of growth has been severe: levels of mercury in the city's groundwater are reportedly 96 times higher than WHO safety levels, and heavy metals are present in the air and the local produce. "It's just a disaster."
 Number of people potentially affected: 275,000
Type of pollutant: Organic chemicals, oil and heavy metals
  
Sumgayit was a major Soviet industrial center housing more than 40 factories producing industrial and agricultural chemicals, which released 70,000 to 120,000 tons of harmful emissions annually. 

Untreated sewage and mercury-contaminated sludge continue to be dumped haphazardly. 

A high percentage of babies are born premature, stillborn, and with genetic defects such as Down's syndrome, anencephaly, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, bone disease, and mutations such as club feet, cleft palate, and additional digits.


 Number of people potentially affected: 140,000
Type of pollutant: Lead and other heavy metals

Tianying is one of the largest lead production bases in China, with an output accounting for half of the country's total production, and low-level technologies, illegal operation and the lack of any serious pollution control measures in the firms have led to average lead concentrations in air and soils respectively 8.5 times and 10 times national health standards. 

Local crops and wheat at farmers' homes were also contaminated by lead dust, with some levels 24 times higher than national standards. 

Residents, particularly children, are reported to suffer from lead poisoning and its related effects lower IQs, short attention spans, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, impaired physical growth, hearing and visual problems, stomachaches, irritation of the colon, kidney malfunction, anemia and brain damage.

PLEASE, REMEMBER THIS IS AFFECTING INNOCENT CHILDREN.
NO CHILD SHOULD HAVE TO BE BORN INTO THESE ENVIRONMENTS AND NEVER HAVE A CHANCE TO ESCAPE.

 AMERICA IS CERTAINLY NOT LEFT OUT OF THIS.
ASIDE FROM HANFORD IN WASHINGTON, NAMED THE MOST TOXIC PLACE ON EARTH, PRIOR TO FUKUSHIMA, AND EVEN AFTER CHERNOBYL, WE HAVE PLENTY PROBLEMS RIGHT HERE IN THE USA.

Radioactive tritium leaks found at 48 US nuke sites - NBC
THIS JUST MEASURES TRITIUM.

Radioactive leaks found at 75% of US nuke sites - CBS News
THIS DID NOT INCLUDE "CLOSED FACILITIES" AND DID NOT INCLUDE NUCLEAR WASTE SITES THAT DO NOTHING BUT LEAK.
All Nuclear Reactors Leak All of the Time | Veterans Today
TRUTH, AT LAST!

Many of you will be surprised by some of these.... I was.

#10. Riverside-San Bernardino, California  

#9. Salt Lake City, Utah

#8 St. Louis, Missouri 

#7. Houston, Texas

#6. Los Angeles, California

#5. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

#4. New York, New York

#3. Fresno, California  

#2. Bakersfield, California

And at #1....PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA!


 "There are 3,500 chemical spills each year, requiring $260 million to clean.

Above those, however, are the Superfund sites—places that have sustained major, long-term damage, necessitating years of cleanup.

 Established in 1980 after a series of toxic disasters, including the infamous Love Canal district of Niagara Falls, which turned the neighborhood into a virtual ghost town, Superfund has largely succeeded in centralizing hazardous waste cleanup and holding responsible parties financially accountable.

The BP fiasco—both a natural and human disaster—got us thinking: what are today’s most polluted toxic dumping grounds? 

 
THIS LIST OF 28 IS JUST FOR CHEMICAL TOXICITY.
IS YOUR CITY ON THE LIST?
ONE TOWN MADE THIS LIST 3 TIMES!
READ THE ARTICLE, IT'S VERY ENLIGHTENING.
The name of the city is followed by the biggest polluter there.

 #1, Milford, New Hampshire:
Fletcher's Paint Works and Storage

 #2, Haverford, Pennsylvania:
Havertown PCP

 #3, St. Maries, Idaho
St. Maries Creosote 

#4, Walpole, Massachusetts:
Blackburn and Union Privileges

#5, Whittier, California:
Omega Chemical Corporation

#6, Newport, Delaware:
Koppers Co

#7, Bloomington, Indiana:
Neal's Landfill

#8, Hereford Township, Pennsylvania:
Crossley Farm

#9, Bloomington, Indiana: AGAIN! 
Bennett Stone Quarry

#10, Camden, New Jersey:
Martin Aaron, Inc.

#11, Wellpinit, Washington:
Midnite Mine

#12, Bloomington, Indiana: FOR THE 3rd TIME!
Lemon Lane Landfill

#13, Torrance, California:
Montrose Chemical Corporation

#14, Liberty, Texas:
Petro-Chemical Systems

#15, Waukegan, Illinois:
Outboard Marine Corporation

#16, Leadville, Colorado:
California Gulch

#17, Tacoma, Washington:
Commencement Bay  

#18, St. Louis, Michigan:
Velsicol Chemical Corporation

#19, Tacoma, Washington: 2nd TIME ON THE LIST.
Commencement Bay, South Tacoma Channel

#20, Edgewood, Maryland:
Aberdeen Proving Ground

#21, Helena, Montana:
Upper Tenmile Creek

#22, Marina, California:
Fort Ord

#23, Rockford, Illinois:
Southeast Rockford Ground Water

#24, Joplin, Missouri:
Oronogo-Duenweg Mining Belt

#25, Smelterville, Idaho:
Bunker Hill

#26, Galena, Kansas:
Cherokee County

#27, Idaho Springs, Colorado
Central City, Clear Creek


#28, Odenton, Maryland:
Fort George G. Meade

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN POLLUTION, IN ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS, I HAVE JUST ONE QUESTION.....

WOULD YOU TAKE YOUR CHILD OR GRANDCHILD TO LIVE, OR EVEN PLAY, NEAR THESE SITES?  
IF YOU WERE AWARE OF THE TOXICITY OF WHERE YOUR LOVED ONES LIVE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO HELP?
WOULD YOU BE CONCERNED?  

WOULD YOU JUST SHRUG AND SAY THERE WAS NOTING TO BE DONE, THAT THEY'D JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT?


IF ONE WHOM YOU LOVED DIED FROM THESE POLLUTANTS, AND YOU KNEW THAT WAS THE CAUSE, COULD YOU REST KNOWING THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TOXINS WERE GETTING OFF SCOT-FREE FOR WHAT THEY'D DONE? 

WOULD IT BOTHER YOU TO KNOW OTHERS WOULD DIE FROM THE SAME CAUSE?

IT BOTHERS ME.

IT BOTHERS ME EVERY DAY.... THAT'S WHY I WRITE ABOUT WHAT I FIND, MAKE DOZENS OF PHONE CALLS EVERY WEEK, SOMETIMES EVERY DAY, GO TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS , WRITE MY ELECTED LIARS FREQUENTLY, AND MAKE THESE THINGS AS PUBLIC AS I POSSIBLY CAN.


I DEEPLY CARE.
I KNOW THOUSANDS OF DEATHS CAN BE, SHOULD BE PREVENTED EVERY DAY IN AMERICA.


I CAN'T ACCEPT THAT IT'S JUST "PART OF LIFE".... NOT FOR CHILDREN...NOT FOR THE UNBORN WHO ARE FORMING IN UTERO SURROUNDED BY THE VERY THING THAT WILL CAUSE THEM BIRTH DEFECTS, LIFE-LONG ILLNESS, OR DEATH.


NOT FOR THE INNOCENTS.... NO, I CAN'T AND WON'T JUST WRITE THEM OFF.


HOW THESE COMPANIES AND OUR CURSED "PROTECTION AGENCIES" CAN WRITE THEM OFF IS BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION.











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