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Science Gone Wrong

How often does science find solutions for problems and then find that the solution causes another problem. A lot of money is spent in the World to test drugs to make sure they are safe.

Even something as simple as getting clean drinking water may have a dangerous effects which are not foreseen. In Bangladesh many years ago the United Nations wanted to help the people of Bangladesh have clean drinking water. They had been drinking water from rivers and small pools after the rain. That water had many dangerous bacteria and caused health problems. The solution was to put a simple tube well (pipe) into the ground down to the water level and then pump out clear water. Over 50,000 tube wells were installed. And the people had water to drink that did not have bacteria. Wonderful, now the people have clear water.

The problem is that some arsenic, which occurs naturally in soil in central, southwestern and northeastern Bangladesh, is always present in ground water. The threat of arsenic contamination was first detected in 1996. Water polluted with arsenic can cause early symptoms which include the development of dark spots on the skin. Constant exposure can also affect internal organs and in the most severe cases can lead to cancers and skin diseases. When they tested the water, they found that in 29 percent of the 51,000 tube wells tested it was found to be contaminated with arsenic. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it was helping Bangladesh in providing a screening program to supply arsenic-free drinking water safe drinking water to 24 million people exposed to arsenic contamination. UNICEF is helping with tests and looking for other water sources. The agency also supports the training of 1,600 medical officers and 5,000 field health workers. UNICEF is also assisting the government in creating awareness of how to avoid using polluted water. Many Bangladeshis still use water containing arsenic even though they know its dangerous effects on health because they can not find other easy ways to get water.

This is why many people now do not trust scientists that have ideas the scientists think will make life better. We need to be careful that we do not destroy the environment where we live. Simple things like where we put trash may affect the earth in the future. Sometimes people do things because it costs less, but in the future it may cost a lot to repair the damage to the earth or cause serious health problems in the future.

Many companies try to build equipment that is safe but buyers do not use the equipment properly. 7 million infant swings have been recalled after six children were strangled while using them. The swings were made before November 1997, and the company wants to replace parts that were either not used or were lost. The six deaths occurred when parts were missing or were not used properly and infants slid down the swings' seats and became tangled in the restraints. In five of the deaths, the swings were secondhand, and had missing parts. The swings are battery-powered or windup and sold for between $70 and $120 each. Parents were urged to stop using the swings until they get safety information by contacting the company.

Trouble In Toyland: Who designers make toys to interest children some times they make them so that the toys may be dangerous. Here are some examples of hazardous toys. These toys have small parts which young children could put in their mouth and choke. 1. Babe The Pig And Friends Bedtime Babe, 2. Farm, 3. Free Wheeling ConstructTeam, 4. Mini Construction Play Set, 5. Movie Star Gold Jewelry, 6. Mini Fruits and Vegetables Bucket. These toys have poison in the plastic they are made of: (most of them are teething rings) 1. Baby Looney Tunes Cooling Ring Teether, 2. Cool Ring Teether, 3. Funny Face Teether Rattle/Disney Babies Mickey Collection, 3. SofSport Teether, 4. Sports Fan Water Teether, 5. Toteables Glow In The Dark Fashion Accessories.

These toys are examples. Other toys may also be hazardous. Even toys that pass all government tests may be hazardous. We need to be careful and think about the toys and equipment that we use.

Chernobyl Kills And Cripples 14 Years After BlastBy Olena Horodetska KIEV (Reuters)

Fourteen years after the world's worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl power plant is still reaping a harvest of deaths, Ukraine's Health Ministry said. Some 3.5 million people, over a third of them children, have suffered illness as a result of the contamination and the incidence of some cancers is 10 times the national average. ``The health of people affected by the Chernobyl accident is getting worse and worse every year,'' Deputy Health Minister Olha Bobyleva told a news conference. ``We are very disturbed by these data.'' Chernobyl's number four reactor exploded in the early hours of April 26, 1986, spreading a poisonous radioactive cloud over much of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and parts of Western Europe. Soviet officials, who initially tried to hush up the tragedy, acknowledged in the end that the accident had killed 31 people and affected thousands more.

But the real scale of the catastrophe, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people and turned bustling villages and towns into ghost communities populated only by stray dogs and crows, has turned out to be far greater than once thought. Official data show that the health of some 3.5 million people, including 1.26 million children, was affected in this impoverished nation of 50 million. Children and also emergency workers sent in to clean up the contaminated areas are among the worst affected. The death rate among those living in contaminated areas is 18.28 percent per 1,000, compared to a national average of 14.8 percent. Bobyleva said high radiation had led to an outbreak of diseases of the nervous, blood and respiratory systems.

She said the number of these diseases among children affected by the accident was 17 percent higher than the national average. The rate of thyroid cancer remains 10 times higher than normal among Ukrainian children. The ministry reported 1,400 cases of thyroid cancer between 1986 and 2000, while no cases were registered between 1981 and 1985. Bobyleva said the ministry was particularly worried by an increase in deaths of emergency workers, popularly called ''liquidators,'' most of whom are still under 50. The death rate in the group is double the national average. She said the consumption of radioactive food produced in the country's most contaminated northern and central regions of Kiev, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkassy and Rivne posed another danger for public health.

A lack of cash and other economic problems have further complicated the situation. Cash-strapped Ukraine has spent $1.4 billion to date to fight the consequences of the accident. Ukraine has promised it will close Chernobyl's last operational reactor by the end of this year.

PUZZLE

What is in the middle of every month, but never in March, April, or May, always in night, but never in day?

Submitted by Hanna Mitchell

Are You a Worry Wart

If you fill your mind with regrets of yesterday and worries about tomorrow you have no today to be thankful for. You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worring about the future.

How do you relax and stop worrying? Try some of these ways: Exersize, or just do some deep breathing. Think logically - fact vs fantasy. Don't worry alone. What will your friend think about your worries? Get emotional - laugh, cry, listen to music. "Don't sweat the small stuff."