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Sandra Steingraber's Struggle To Prevent Water Pollution

1884 Words8 Pages

Water is one of the most crucial elements needed by the human body. We need it to survive physically and use it constantly in our daily lives. Our body itself is made up of about 60% water and is used in various bodily functions from building cells to removing waste. To accommodate this need, Earth’s surface is about 71% water, which is plenty for the human population to survive off of. The water that we are given to survive off of is the only water we have, yet sadly with time it has been altered from its most natural and pure state. Through industry and the use of man-made chemicals, the human population has managed to make water pollution into a serious problem that our planet is currently facing. To stop the advancing of water population and salvage the clean water we have for future consumption, the greater humankind needs to embrace education and …show more content…

Much of the work done to make this shocking statement was done by Sandra Steingraber, a cancer survivor herself. Sandra has been known to be a sort of modern Rachel Carson due to her work in environmentalism as a biologist and author, as well as being a female cancer survivor. After being diagnosed with bladder cancer in her 20s, Steingraber began to question the origins of this deadly disease, especially since many other of her family members and people in her city had cancer as well. All of these studies were compiled and included in her book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment (Steingraber). The piece makes the connection between environmental factors and cancer and focuses mostly on the use of man-made pesticides. The book was also made into a documentary in order to reach out to a larger audience (Living Downstream). The film continues to focus on the environmental factors that are tied to cancer, while also following Steingraber’s own personal journey of battling cancer as a biologist, wife, and

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