The greater vulnerability of children, pregnant women, and the elderly to certain effects could be discussed. The role of the chemical industry in accounting for some environmental problems can be examined (see the book, Toxic Deception by Dan Fagin & Marianne Lavelle).  

    The fact that man-made synthetic chemicals have no counter part in nature to detox them is important to understand. The weaknesses and strengths of the EPA and current environmental laws in fully protecting the public can be identifed. This issue easily relates to the other issues like environmental justice; toxic dumps are more likely to be located in minority and poor areas, for example. 

    The relationship between pesticides and water pollution as well as habitat destruction (see the book, Silent Spring II) can be looked into and highlighted. When the population increases, we have to get more food production out of less land and that means we may need to use various fertilizers and other chemicals or such alternatives as genetically engineered crops. 

Local:Toxic waste disposal could be examined locally by looking at how cities like Cape Girardeau dispose of household and yard waste and how local industries like Procter and Gamble dispose of industrial waste. Leaf burning might be a useful local issue to pursue in-depth including its potential toxic effects on children who live in the immediate area of the burning--particularly, children who have lung problems such as asthma. 

CASE STUDY At the November meeting of the Cape Girardeau, Missouri Aquarium club, among the topics that came up for discussion was whether or not people who lived in the city should use local rainwater to replenish the water in their tetra aquariums. Some members thought the water would be too acidic and too dirty, too full of air pollutants to be safe for their fish. Another point that arose in conversation involved the issue of heaters in our tanks; do we need to heat the water as earlier in the season as we did a few years ago? Also , do we need to bring in our outdoor tropical fish in October or should they be brought in earlier? One of the members was convinced that a disease he had acquired had been caused by something in the water of one of his tropical fish tanks and other members were wondering if that was possible? One of the hottest topics of debate involved the potential effects of hormone disrupters on a particular species of tropical fish. Some members were concerned about the city;s water supply; Mississippi River water is heavily polluted. The president asked the members not to dispose of any of their tropical fish by dumping them into any of the local streams, rivers, or lakes. Members were asked to boycott any dealers that sold fish that were caught with the use of cyanide! Some members expressed concern at the recent increase in the price of certain species of freshwater tropicals such as the cardinal tetra and the dwarf botia. Members were encouraged to purchase fish that have been breed in captivity rather than those caught in the wild, whenever possible. Some tropical areas have been over fished. One of the members asked about the implications of the fact that the tropical fish hobby was now the number two hobby in America. The meeting was closed with a reminder that the main education topic for the December meeting would be how to avoid the;new tank syndrome

Local: Also consider the ongoing efforts to clean up the radiation spill and radioactive wastes in Magill Hall. Multiple newspaper articles in the SE Missourian

National/Regional Cases

On the national level, the shipping of toxic waste from state to state could be examined, including the potential dangers from accidents that this might pose. A student could explore how other states and cities handle toxic waste issues including leaf burning. Mapping out the national locations of toxic waste facilities might result in some interesting patterns and conclusions. 

http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~kaufmadg/woburn.html An EPA superfund site cleanup in Massachusetts, raises relevant questions for our own sites.

University of Michigan: Environmental Justice Case Studies -- several toxic waste cases., http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/cases.html  See for example:

http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/mcormick.htm  Fighting a hazardous waste incinerator in OH

http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/statter.html  Hog farming in NC

http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/kendziuk.html  Yucca Mtn. nuclear waste repository and the Shoshone

International Cases

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/EESJ/casestudies/EESJyuccamt.html  Incredible reading list on nuclear waste, esp. as relates to Yucca Mtn.

http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/94-58.htm  States rights and the cleanup of hazardous waste, a paper on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, also could be used as a case.

http://cnwm.berkeley.edu/cnwm/gates/links.html  Center for nuclear and toxic waste management – a huge listing of links on this issue.

Foreign Policy In Focus http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol4/v4n01haz.html  has an excellent article titled In Focus: Hazardous Waste Disposal which analyzes US poligy in a global perspective. 

The Department of Energy has an excellent program called Ask A Scientist http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov  - check out its Environmental Science Archive  

Check out the reading list - like, Dangerous Ground: The World of Hazardous Waste Crime, 1992 by D. Rebovitch, published by Transaction Publishers. The Argonne National Laboratory Division of Educational Programs - Ask-A-Scientist Archive - Environmental Earth ScienceTopics (Nov. 1991 - current) - This is loaded!, http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/env98.htm .  

Go to Native Americans and the Environment http://conbio.rice.edu/nae/index.html  - the current case on that site is The Makah Whaling Conflict but many other cases are planned. There are excellent resources at this site listed under Toxic and Nuclear Waste, Mining http://conbio.rice.edu/nae/toxics.html 

Check out EcoJustice Network http://www.igc.org/envjustice/  Excellent site on minorities and justice. Recycling - Not So Green To Its Neighbors and Cottage Street Beats The Concrete Mountain.,

Go to World Resources Institute http://www.wri.org  and check out Changing Environment, Changing Health Threats - There is a whole section on Linking Environment and Health.,

Center for Ethics and Toxics http://www.cetos.org/arttoxics.html  Article titled Political Perspectives on Pesticides.,

There are several good articles on the Multinational Monitor site http://www.essential.org/monitor  like the one on Trashing Haiti. This site has a search engine, or click on Back Issues and browse the article titles.  The (July/August 2000)  issue has several articles under the heading Corporate Pigs and Other Tales of Agribusiness.