Socioeconomic Toxicity

One pressing environmental issue is the increase of many anthropogenic toxins that accumulate in fish species, which are later consumed by humans. Biomagnification is the increase in concentration of a certain substance as it accumulates in individuals, moving up a food web. A classic example of this is DDT. Many pesticides used this toxic chemical until 1972. After a while, many aquatic and bird species started to show drastically negative effects as a direct result of this toxin. Runoff from coastal lands would permeate oceans and lakes. Fish would live in the water, and consume algae and other organisms, that acquired these toxins. As the larger fish consumed many smaller fish, the concentrations of these toxins increased dramatically as they moved up each trophic level.

Fish and other seafoods are very popular for human consumption. Just as these toxins were harming fish and birds, the accumulation of toxins proved to be hazardous for humans as well. A study conducted by Patrick C. West et al has shown that minorities and the elderly are affected by these toxins more than the average fisherman in Michigan. Their data also suggests that this is a common trend between states. This study suggests legislation to enhance water quality standards, as well as increasing education and advising for minorities and elderly individuals about the risks of certain species fish consumption.

Ethinicy Sparking Environmentalism

How did "environmentalism" come to be? When did we start realizing that many of the environmental issues our world is facing is not only natural, but also anthropogenic? The first annual Earth Day was April 22, 1970. The establishment of this event in the United States sparked a nation wide movement towards the appreciation and preservation of our resources, while combating the frivolous and wasteful mentality that the industrial revolution had sparked. Grass-roots groups realized that they were not alone in caring.
The 1960s is often associated with hippies and environmentalism. The early 1960s were also a period of great turmoil within the United States. The Civil War movement had many characteristics that soon influenced the anti-war and environmental movements. Carl Anthony, the co-founder of Race, Poverty and the Environment, makes many interesting connections that link race and socioeconomic conditions of the early 60s with a movement towards united change for the natural frontier. Anthony reminisces as he points out that through the rest of the 20th century, environmentalism remained a movement dominated by the white middle-class. This uniformity unfortunately led to some cases of narrow-minded prioritizing that focused on 'fixing' issues in areas that would benefit this demographic, but hurt others: "their priorities really reflected the issues of [concern to] predominantly suburban constituencies, and ... many actually went against the interests of the communities of color." This effected many African American families, as well as other impoverished minorities of that time.