7;s groundwater or a body of water. According to Lewis Regenstein author of “America the Poisoned” two thirds of the nation’s lakes have serious pollution problems. 80% of 3,700 urban lakes in the United States are destroyed. More than 94 million residents could use these lakes for recreational use or for a source of water (169). Cincinnati’s drinking water contains about 700 chemicals. 90% of them did not exist 20 years ago. The main sources of most of these chemical pollutants are municipal sewage, industrial discharges, and runoffs from farming areas. There are also several other chemicals in America’s drinking water. Although hazardous, there are approximately 60 chemicals that are mixed into water in the process of treating it. Unlike rivers or lakes, underground supplies are not processed at treatment plants before being used by humans. “More than one hundred million of our citizens depend in a whole or in part on underground as sources of drinking water (Beck qtd. in Regenstein 172). Once groundwater becomes contaminated, there is usually no way to clean it.Pesticides also have a great affect on the food we consume. Food is one of the great necessities of life. Yet, a growing amount of evidence indicates that the food supply is being contaminated with pesticides (Mott & Snyder vii). These pesticides are most commonly sprayed on the plants in which the fruit or vegetables grow while they are young. Many of them receive several treatments, depending on the problem. Crops can also be contaminated by the soil condition in which the plants are grown. Many farmers water their crops by irrigation lakes or pond. This can put several other types of pesticides on the plants. The main problem is that everything has already been contaminated by the mistakes of yesterday. The problem will not get better unless we stop the use of pesticides. Here are some commodities and the percentages of pest...
