In a study of 68 private drinking water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania and New York, methane contamination rose sharply with proximity to natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") sites.
The authors note that the rate of secondary exposure by occupation was 39.3% among nurse assistants, was 26.5% among nurses, was 25.5% among volunteers, was 21.8% among doctors, and was 18.2% among clerks, indicating that the degree of secondary contamination rose in proportion to the length of time a medical worker may have spent in contact with an undecontaminated patient.
Among theories being investigated to help explain the population declines are increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation (due to thinning of the ozone layer), pesticide contamination and rising temperatures.
Now, with the number of contamination cases rising, the government is finally moving to ban beef shipments from Fukushima Prefecture, an area of 5,300 square miles, slightly smaller than Connecticut.
They contend that the chances for contamination have risen sharply with the development of these enormous meat-processing operations, while inspection standards have loosened.
Evidence of rising contamination in and around the plant has tempered optimism, and new reports has consumers raising questions about whether it remains safe to eat beef, chicken and pork.
Prior to the examination day, study subjects were provided with 100 mL polypropylene containers and instructed to collect their urine, avoiding external contamination, immediately after rising in the morning and to take it to the laboratory without delay.
The alleged ills include increased numbers of deaths from heat waves, more asthma from smog, beach erosion, contamination of groundwater from rising sea level, and more droughts and floods.
The rising threat of contamination stems from the changing nature of the American diet, a greater reliance on imported foods, and recognition by scientists of new microbes that can cause food-borne illness, the scientists said.
Concern is rising about widespread contamination of the marine environment by microplastics.
