Clean Up The Med 2012

 

On Sunday, May 27, GreenOceanSurfing participated once again in a beach clean-up in Anzio, which was organized by Legambiente. As part of the Spiagge e Fondali Puliti - Clean Up the Med 2012 environmental campaign, which took place in 22 Mediterranean countries, the environmental organization organized more than 300 beach clean-ups in Italy alone from May 25-27.  We met at 10 a.m. and, armed with plastic bags and gloves we started cleaning up the beach, which was full of all kinds of waste (q-tips, plastic bottles, car tires and so on), things we find on our beaches every day, in Italy as well as in the rest of the world. Beach clean-ups are organized all over the world to raise awareness of environmental issues among the public (including people who are at the beach sunbathing or jogging or for whatever reason by handing out leaflets). Actually, some people who were there on Sunday picked up a pair of gloves and joined us.

If we go on like this we’ll soon be living in a world full of garbage!!  According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces about 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of garbage a day, or a total of 29 pounds (13 kg) per week and 1,600 pounds (726 kg) a year. This only takes into consideration the average household member and does not count industrial waste or commercial trash. To get a better idea of the numbers, consider this: with the garbage “made in USA” alone, you could form a line of filled-up garbage trucks and reach the moon!!

 The moral of the story is: we can all do our share, by buying and wasting less, by properly disposing of the waste we produce and by recycling more!!! And… by participating in events like these, of course!!

Arsenic, Old Lace… and Tap Water?????

I’m writing this article because I’d like our English-speaking friends to know that in many Italian towns people are drinking arsenic, every day. That’s right, because in 128 Italian towns there’s a higher than normal arsenic concentration in tap water. Italian newspapers talked a lot about the issue, so if you live in Italy you’ve probably heard about this. I personally found it out in 2010, when the European Union denied Italy’s derogation request for arsenic concentrations in drinking water of up to 50 mg/l (which had been accepted since 2001!!).  

In fact, under EU legislation, total arsenic levels in drinking water should not exceed 10 micrograms per liter. Because arsenic is known to cause cancer.  But derogations for up to 20 mg/l are still possible.

Out of the 128 Italian towns affected by this “little problem”, 91 are in the Lazio Region (and Anzio, where we live, is one of them!), 16 in Tuscany, and the rest in Campania, Trentino, Lombardia and Umbria. Such high levels of arsenic in drinking water (which, in some cases peak to 50 mg per liter) are supposedly due to  “natural” causes, such as groundwater flowing through areas with volcanic rocks and layers of lava.

Last year, the Lazio Region had assured the situation was under control, and the necessary water treatment and filter systems were practically ready for use.  But actually, in many towns nothing much has changed since then. Only two of them have so far installed arsenic water filters. Some mayors have banned the use of tap water for children under age 3 and pregnant women. (Thereby allowing everyone else to drink it!) Other have made drinking fountains available, from which residents can get their supply of still (for free) or sparkling (5 cents per liter) drinking water. But, in the meantime, contaminated water keeps flowing from our taps at home.   

Moreover, local health authorities have been carrying out inspections and water sampling across businesses, such as coffee bars, restaurants and bakeries, and have imposed upon those businesses whose water samples contain higher than normal arsenic levels the obligation to install arsenic water filters, which they must pay for.  I mean, if it’s supposed to be okay for our health to use tap water for cooking, and even drinking if you’re not a toddler, why is it not okay for businesses to use it? Why should they comply with the EU rules if the public administration doesn’t in the first place?

Codacons, the Italian consumer protection association, has already taken action, and Lazio’s regional administrative court (TAR) ruled that the Italian Ministry of Health and the Environment must pay a compensation of 200 thousand euros (100 euros per resident) in the areas where arsenic was found in the water.

Lazio’s TAR stated that the hazards for human health produced by a prolonged exposition to arsenic in tap water, even if in very small amounts, are certain, based on the results of research conducted on over 11,700 people in Bangladesh, which were published in The Lancet online scientific journal. Such research demonstrated that high arsenic levels in blood significantly increase the risk of cancer. Moreover, according to estimates by WHO, which has referred to the situation in Bangladesh as "the largest mass poisoning of a population in history", at least 35 million people have drunk contaminated water in Bangladesh since the 70s. According to the Heals study (Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study), coordinated by Prof. Habibul Ahsan from the University of Chicago, an estimated 21% of deaths from all causes and 24% of deaths linked to chronic diseases (mainly liver, bladder and skin cancer and heart diseases) could be attributed to drinking arsenic-contaminated well water at concentrations greater than 10µg/L. (for further information: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-06/l-rod061710.php. )

  

Codacons, however, is not going to stop: they’re promoting another class action, requesting that a compensation of 1500 euros be paid for each person participating in this action, as well as lower water fees in the towns where there is contaminated tap water. Anyone can participate in this class action, but make up your mind soon, because you have to register by February 29 (for further information, check out their website:   http://www.codacons.it). 

Benedetta Ferri _ GOSer