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I get the National Geographic news feed everyday, and this headline just blew away my fantasy of going to some clean, remote place to avoid toxic chemicals.

Pollution Prevalent in U.S. West’s National Parks

“Contaminants are everywhere. You can’t get more remote than these northern parts of Alaska and the high Rockies,” said Michael Kent, a fish researcher with Oregon State University who co-authored the study.

The substances detected ranged from mercury produced by power plants and industrial chemicals such as PCBs to the banned insecticides dieldrin and DDT. Those can cause health problems in humans including nervous system damage, dampened immune system responses, and lowered reproductive success.

Also, mercury levels at the eight parks and DDT levels at Glacier and Sequoia and Kings Canyon exceeded health thresholds for fish-eating wildlife. Kent said he found airborne contaminants are causing male fish to develop female organs in some parks.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that remoteness means less pollution, Landers said many of the parks—particularly those at higher elevations and in colder climates—actually are at higher risk.

Sheesh, no wonder so many people are having fertility problems.

I guess this means that to live somewhere clean and healthy, we need to make the whole world clean and healthy. Please do your part and buy or grow local organic food. Also, if you are in charge of which power company you use, please switch to a company which uses more solar and wind power for energy.

You can check out how clean your energy provider is and find alternative energy providers in your area at the EPA’s Clean Energy site:

http://oaspub.epa.gov/powpro/ept_pack.utility 

Please leave a comment if you recommend any energy companies.

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