It is a lot to ask the microbial population in a septic system to break down chemicals that they have never experienced in nature, let alone those designed to inhibit their activities.
Category: waste
Plastics at sea
Overall the blame for plastic pollution rests on you and me.
Pig Poop
Currently there are about 75,000,000 pigs in the United States. They generate a lot of poop, for which disposal is an ongoing problem in need of good solutions. North Carolina is home to about 12%Continue reading
environmental health, faculty, lakes and streams, marine studies, toxicology, waste, water, water pollution
Microplastics
Like booze, sex and profanity, plastics have become a sin.
air pollution, biogeochemistry, faculty, lakes and streams, recycling, waste, water, water pollution
Poop
Poop is a resource that should be used more efficiently.
Casting your last environmental footprint
If you want to leave a big carbon footprint on the atmosphere, choose cremation in an electric furnace.
Wasted Fish
When large nets are used to capture desirable species, there is often “bycatch” of undesirable species that are often thrown back into the water.
Whither your water
It gives me pause to see proposals now before government agencies to relax the standards for discharge and stream protection
Waters of the United States
For the purposes of maintaining water quality in the Hudson River, it shouldn’t matter if I dump my sewage or industrial waste into a small tributary or directly into the River.
biogeochemistry, environmental health, faculty, lakes and streams, waste, water, water pollution
Your Water on Drugs
It is likely that the organisms in many streams across the U.S. are bathed in a weak solution of birth control pills, caffeine, hypertension blockers, and lithium.