Post # 2 Chemical Reactions

Pollution Near You...

Defined as the transformation of organic and inorganic raw materials by a chemical process and the formulation of products, chemical manufacturing does not seem very destructive. However, it is currently one of the leading causes of pollution.  Of course not all chemical manufacturing is bad, the global industry wouldn't function without chemical manufacturing but the methods that it is done by are a major issue.  Examples of chemical manufacturing include mining, metal refining, crude oil production, and synthetic material production (eg. plastic ).  The listed materials are all quite important but there are many more environmentally conscious methods to obtain these materials, currently the process to obtain these materials leaves dangerous by-product and hazardous waste suchas: dichloroethan (CH2Cl2) a mining by-product; butadiene (C4H6) a synthetic rubber by-product; mercury (Hg) by-product of coal combustion and waste incineration and highly toxic, whats worse is that all the chemical by-products listed (and all that are not listed as well) are more often then not, released into our environment, the three above are polluting Canada on a daily basis. This should not be happening in our backyard and we shouldn't let it.

Article Review

The source article is a small article in a large list of top pollutants in the world.  My source article focused on the dangers and problems associated with chemical manufacturing.  It listed many of the top producers and top materials produced, such as plastic, paints, cleaning supplies, and explosives.  The author also addressed the major areas of pollution and causes, he also briefly spoke of possible solutions and counter-measures that should be taken.LINK TO ARTICLE

Reflection

The article made many valid points and was quite relevant, I believe its points and methods and believe them to be very important.  Though most of its examples were in underdeveloped or more unstable parts of the world, the authors concerns do affect Canada and the U.S., just not as drastically.  To the same extent we also have a lower population that is affected by the issues compared to other countries but the population is large enough that something should be done and soon.

Reader Reflection

Do you believe that it would be more environmentally effective to limit the production of chemical manufacturing, or better to keep up production while in hope of a solution to containing the by-products in the near-future?