Word: toxicating
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1970
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Left to die a natural death, the insects would decompose and the next rain would wash their internal cargo of long-lived pesticides and toxic metals back into the water supply. But Metcalf proposes breaking the natural cycle. Since the insects are attracted to light, they can easily be caught in standard, electrically illuminated traps. One night Metcalf captured 300,000 adult midges in a single trap. They can then be burned at high enough temperatures to break down the pesticides...
...This nation has lost the freedoms of good air, water, and food," said John M. Whittaker, a veterinarian and one of the five conference leaders. "Most ofour food is over-preserved to the point where it is toxic or useless; we are prostituting our daily bread with over-use of chemicals...
...tools used by man to control his environment often contain unknown dangers. DDT, for example, was once heralded as the ultimate pesticide, then was deemed an insidious killer. Now the U.S. Government finds itself in court defending a newer pesticide called Mirex, which conservationists claim has toxic side effects...
...those produced by 100 million people, for example, have been measured in the Missouri River between Omaha and Kansas City. Such enormous manure runoffs produce disease-carrying bacteria and have so increased the nitrate and phosphate levels in some waterways that algae proliferate, choking off other forms of life. Toxic elements in manure are believed responsible for killing 1,500,000 game fish in nine states...
...larger amounts of the more combustible gasoline components called aromatics, which compensate for the loss of octane that results from the removal of lead. Without them, high-performance engines as presently designed would lose power and produce knocking. But, argues Blanchard, the burning of the aromatics emits toxic benzene and other chemicals, which react with sunlight to produce heavy smog...