Residents of Rutherford, New Jersey, are vastly exposed to dangerous chemicals which results in increased death rate and illnesses. Exposure to chemicals in this region mainly occurs through inhalation or skin contact. According to Silva et al. (2016), some of the common chemicals include Trichloroethylene, Benzene, Arsenic, Perchloroethylene, Hydrogen Peroxide, and aluminum. Exposure to these chemicals triggers injuries and fatalities that in most cases result to death. Depending on the nature of the chemicals and the exposure duration, solvents, toxic materials, and chemicals lead to vast damages. In most cases, people are aware of the pollutants and the environmental threats, and thus the real impact of air pollution has been raised by failure to adhere to the appropriate policies.
People in Rutherford have increased chances of illnesses and suffer other challenges for instance lack of clean water due to the exposure to these toxic chemicals. Some of the health risks that result from these toxic chemicals include skin disease which is dangerous and could lead to death. Residents of Rutherford have been reported to have increased cancer rate and cardiovascular diseases which further raise the death rates in this region (Wang et al.,2016). Other conditions that are caused by exposure to toxic chemicals include mesothelioma, respiratory diseases, damage to the central nervous system and organs, gastrointestinal disorders, burns, and reproductive issues. The nature of toxic substances that are known to trigger diseases to people differ significantly and are increasing daily.
However, public health nurses can aid the residents of Rutherford to achieve change and eradicate these environmental hazards. As postulated by Silva et al. (2016), one of the ways they can accomplish this is by creating awareness of the health issues relating to those toxic chemicals and how to curb them. The public health nurses can also give recommendations for changing the drinking water sources that impact the society.
References
Wang, Y., Kloog, I., Coull, B. A., Kosheleva, A., Zanobetti, A., & Schwartz, J. D. (2016).
Estimating causal effects of long-term PM2. 5 exposures on mortality in New
Jersey. Environmental health perspectives, 124(8), 1182.
Silva, R. A., West, J. J., Lamarque, J. F., Shindell, D. T., Collins, W. J., Dalsoren, S., … & Naik,
V. (2016). The effect of future ambient air pollution on human premature mortality to 2100
using output from the ACCMIP model ensemble. Atmospheric chemistry and
physics, 16(15), 9847-9862.