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Brittany Alston
English 101
Professor Bolton
September 17, 2014

Money to be Made but Our Health to Pay

Mills and factories have been around for a long time, years and years. Perhaps, like
everything else, these places have become so common among everything else in our daily lives.
Mills and factories seem to have faded away into the back minds of citizens. Nowadays, people
do not pay attention to these factories, not realizing the importance of their possible damages to
society. Mills and factories constantly put citizens at risk of health problems on a daily basis.
Some would argue that mills and factories help the economy by providing jobs. If we did not
have these places then a lot of people would not be able to provide for their families or make
money. While I do agree with that mills and factories help the economy because they provide
jobs for people, they also contribute to society in a negative way as well because mills and
factories contribute drastically to pollution.
Mills, being in areas where there are a large amount of people, as in cities, puts that much
more people at risk of possible pollution. I would not want to wipe out mills completely but they
should be in areas where there are fewer to no people at all, instead of being amongst a large
amount of citizens or very populated area. Yes, it would still cause the same risk for the minority
and no one person should have to be a part of this pollution factor more than the other but, it
would be easier to deal with less people. Perhaps, citizens in these smaller areas could be asked
to, and or assisted with moving if need be. Not by force, it would totally be their choice rather

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they chose to move or not, and if not, then that would be them then putting themselves at risk.
One might argue that people who have lived in a certain place for a long time or has historical
roots in that place may not agree with the thought of having to give that up for a new mill to be
put there. Still yet, that would be there choice and the mill would then not be held responsible for
what happened there after. This would give workers the benefit of keeping their job and the
citizen the option of removing themselves from the polluted area.
Factories are given a certain amount of pollution credits and sometimes, when one has
credits left over, they tend to share them with another factory or mill. Although this is good for
the people in the area where the credits are being given away, it is just that much worse for the
people who are in the area where the credits is given. This may cause a drastic amount of
pollution to one area more of then the other. This particular action should be closely examined
when it comes to these mills. It is very unfair to the people of one area to have to deal with being
at risk of more pollution than another area, just because of a mills need to basically over pollute.
This should be strictly prohibited as we are already being forced under pollution unwillingly,
citizens should not be forced to be over polluted because of companies needs.
There are not only one, but many forms of pollution with the main ones being water, air,
and noise pollution. Air pollution is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, or
other harmful materials into the Earth's atmosphere. Some air pollution comes from natural
sources like volcanoes. In this case, no one can control Mother Nature so this is out of our
power. However, mills and factories also primarily contribute to this form of pollution every day.
As stated before, people have become so accustomed to these mills being there, we tend to
overlook the harm that can come from them. Although air pollution exist places where mills are
not, the areas where they do exist, they are proven to be contributing factors of this air pollution.

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An article in The New York Time discusses how some factories try to reduce the output of carbon
dioxide by using a new technique, which is burning wood, instead of using coal fire. ''We're
finding an emissions improvement benefit, and an economic benefit,'' because the wood is
cheaper than coal, said Allan S. Rudeck Jr. (3) Fire is already the greatest contributor to air
pollution so it is as if no one method would be better than the other. In addition to this, the trees
that are cut down to be used for this particular fire burning process are now space just space for
new trees that will be destroyed by the carbon dioxide output. In the book AIR POLLUTION, it
states how you can melt copper ore to make different things and copper ore is found in the form
of copper sulfate. When the ore is heated to the proper temperature, the sulfur is driven off as
sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) leaving the pure melted copper. Although objects made from copper
might be very beautiful, the sulfurous gases released by copper smelting are very unpleasant. A
compound of sulfur and hydrogen has the same smell as rotten eggs and is disagreeable in even
very small amounts. Gaseous compounds of oxygen and sulfur are far more dangerous because
they can change to sulfuric acid in moist air. (59) This is one of the things we are not aware of
or seem to forget. In addition to air pollution, you also have water pollution. The standard way of
thinking about water pollution is when pollution occurs while pollutants are discharged into
water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. However, water
pollution can be caused by many other ways. For example, soil might not be thought of as a
dangerous pollutant to some, but if enough of it is introduced to waterways, streams could be
choked and clear water made cloudy in ways harmful to many forms of life that depends on that
water as in fishes, etc. Reading an article by Jess Bidgood, he states that Over the centuries,
dams on the river and pollution from paper mills have helped wither the sea runs. Atlantic
salmon here are endangered now. Over time, the number of river herring running up the river

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dropped from as many as 20 million, according to some historical estimates, to an all-time low of
54 -- that is 54 individual fish -- counted at the Veazie Dam here in 2012. (2) That is a
numerous amount of fish and it is just as unfair to them as it is to humans. In addition to this
being a habitat, these fish take in all of this polluted water and not only can it kill them but
ourselves as well because we eat fish too. Of course eating them is just as bad as killing them,
but the pollution can kill both fish and human if our waters continue to be polluted. Noise
pollution is also caused from these mills. Although in big cities or areas where there are more
people. It is obviously a fact that noise pollution can be factored from vehicles as well but
eliminating these mills can lessen the chances of this particular pollution.
Pollution creates a greater risk of citizens having health problems. People tend to take pollution
lightly but it is something that can cause you to have short term and or long term health
problems. Short term air pollution can cause children and adults with asthma to have to increase
the use of their inhaled reliever medication and people with lung conditions, it puts them at
greater risk of being very ill. Also, at Very High levels of air pollution, some people may
experience a sore or dry throat, sore eyes or, in some cases, a tickly cough even in healthy
individuals. However, long term conditions can include lung and heart disease. Short term and
or long term water pollution consist of: impairment of the immune, endocrine and reproductive
systems, pollutants may cause lesions, alter liver function or darken the skin. Water pollutants
may also trigger asthma symptoms in those diagnosed with the disease. Exposure to water
pollution can also lead to headaches, upper respiratory infections, dizziness and nose, throat or
eye irritations. Noise pollution can cause physiological activation including increase in heart rate
and blood pressure, peripheral vasoconstriction and thus increased peripheral vascular resistance.

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Keeping all this in mind, people would still say that these would not be enough reasoning to stray
away mills but it is peoples lives here. This could be your parents, grandparents and or children.
In conclusion, factories and mills play a major role in societys pollution factor as you
should all know. Citizens have gotten so used to these places being around until we do not even
take into consideration the damages that they can cause us. Of course the fact will always remain
that people are in need of their jobs and I totally agree with this. I would not want to take food
away from a familys table or snatch clothes off of a childs back, but if a family member gets
sick and dies of pollution then all else is irrelevant if they are not alive to eat or wear clothes.
There are a lot of factors to into consideration when thinking about someones health also. Of
course people would always argue about having to be moved from their natural habitats, homes
or forced out of there comfort zone just to make a new home for a mill or factory but attempting
to save the lives of 10,000 people will be more sensible versus attempting to save the lives of 5
people. Factories and farms are not the only contributing factors to pollution but they drastically
take a part assisting with the following types: air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution.
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Works Cited

Bidgood, Jess. "Hopes for a Fish Revival As a Dam Is Demolished." New York Times26 July 2013:
A11(L). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/effects?view=short-term

Kidd, J.S. and Renee Kidd. Acid Rain Air Pollution. Ed. Chelsea House. New York: Chesea House
Publishers, 2006. 75-83. Print

Shammas, Nazih.K. Wang, Lawrence. K. Hung-Yung-Tse. Primary and Secondary Pollution

Handbook of Environment and Waste Management: Air and Water Pollution Control. Ed.
Yung Tse-Hung, Lawrence K. Wang. Nizah K. Shammas 2010. 906. Print

Wald, Matthew L. "Power Plants Try Burning Wood With Coal to Cut Carbon Emissions." New York
Times 4 Nov. 2013: B3(L). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.