Whitaker 1
Savanah Whitaker
Kelly Turnbeaugh
ENGL 1010
August 7, 2014
IEP-1
Annotated Bibliography: Chemicals and Cancer Connection
When I receive a task related to a new impacted Site, my first question to the project
manager is, “What happened here?” My context strength needs to understand the history of the
Site before I feel I can successfully move forward with my task. One Site was bombed by Japan
in 1942 causing heavy Bunker C oil to erupt from above ground storage tanks and flow into the
pristine Alaskan waters. Another Site manufactured enriched uranium for WWII very near the
banks of Lake Erie. Many of the Sites I help perform environmental remediation at have
occurred around the WWII era. I want to understand how humans were affected and what their
bodies went through during and after the industrial chemical era. I will focus my paper on
chemicals and cancer connections.
Whitaker 2
Brown, Michael H. “Love Canal.” 1979. Article of his book, Laying Waste: The Poisoning of
America by Toxic Chemicals. 1979, 1980. Web. 25 July 2014.
--- and Pollak, David. “The Love Canal, A Landfill of Hell, That’s a Cesspool of Death and
Disease.” Spartanburg Herald-Tribune [Spartanburg, SC] 29 Oct. 1978. Family
Weekly Section 16. Web. 26 July 2014.
Summary: Michael Brown was a reporter at the time of the Love Canal disaster. He paints
himself as the one reporter who kept asking questions to Local and State Agencies regarding the
mutations he was witnessing of the people who lived at Love Canal. He provides a story line for
one of the most famous families of Love Canal, the Schroeder family. Their daughter was born
with several mutations including partial deafness, deformed external ears, cleft palate, and by age
two when her teeth started to come in there were two rows.
Evaluation: Both articles were heart-wrenching and kept me reading, therefore I will likely
include a portion of his storyline from the Schroeder family in my research paper to also grab the
attention of my readers.
Reflection: All of the Love Canal resources I reviewed told the same story. I was not able to find
any references to the chemical company at fault denying their involvement, which would have
been the opposite side of the story the residents were telling. One thing I found interesting was
the residents of Love Canal never directly went after the chemical company; rather they attacked
the Local and State Agencies for answers and asked to be relocated at the expense of the
government.
Whitaker 3
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. 1962. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Company, 2002. 187–243. Print.
Summary: The book was originally published in 1962, prior to the organization of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Carson took on a very controversial topic regarding
the use of industrial chemicals and insecticides and how they were harming unaware citizens.
Her book primarily focuses on the use of the chlorinated pesticide DDT being used to spray for
insect control. Chapter 12 begins a focus on liver defenses, route of entry, and the purpose of the
liver from infectious diseases. She also brings focus her book’s namesake, Silent Spring, in
which birds were dying in the Midwest due to the spraying of insects and birds eating insect
laced with DDT. During the 40s and 50s (when most of her research took place) there weren’t as
many examples of birth defects (mutations), cancers, or research showing the affects as there is
today. Up until the publishing of Silent Spring, chemicals were seen as progress.
Evaluation: The use of chlorinated products seems to affect humans more readily; is this due to
our body’s ability to absorb the chlorine molecule?
Reflection: Rachel has a true passion for the impacts chlorinated herbicides have on our
environment. I want to give my readers some background into history so they can understand
where some of the law and acts in the environmental industry have originated from.
Whitaker 4
Johnson, George. “Unearthing Prehistoric Tumors, and Debate.” New York Times. New York
Times, 27 Dec. 2010. Web. 27 July 2014.
Summary: Several archaeologists have provided many ancient bones to paleopathologist which
have in turn discovered cancer in the bones of these bodies. Proteins extracts from the bone
marrow of these bodies tested positive for cancer. Many people have viewed cancer as a manmade disease and this article says it has always been here. Cancer is inevitable and if we lived
long enough, we would eventually die from a mistake in cell division.
Evaluation: I started to believe that our bodies were developing cancer or mistakes as a way to
control the human population, when in actually it was very likely to be here all along and modern
civilization has prevented us from dying of other circumstances and allowed us to live long
enough to see cancer.
Reflection: I found two or three sentences in this document that made me perk up and think, I
need to use this in my paper! I’m hoping to find a way to work this into my paper since Johnson
does a great job looking at a different perspective.
Whitaker 5
New York State Department of Health. Love Canal. New York State Department of Health,
2014. Web. 25 Jul. 2014.
Summary: This website provides the history, toxicological investigation, litigation, chronology
amongst many other topics regarding the Love Canal disaster. Love canal is one of the most
contaminated Sites in all of the United States. Love Canal is located off the river that connects
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and upstream of Niagara Falls. From 1942 – 1953 Hooker Chemical
utilized the Love Canal as a dumping ground for chemicals – some drummed, some not –
generated at their Niagara Falls plant. These chemical included chlorinated hydrocarbon
residues, processed sludges, fly ash, and other materials. An estimated 21,800 tons of chemical
waste was disposed of in the canal.
In the mid-1970s chemical odors were becoming apparent and local residents became
complaining to local officials. During above normal rain events chemicals would surface in the
backyards of residents adjoining the former dump site. Some houses had an oily coating in the
basement sump pits and there was evidence of chemical infiltration through cinderblock
foundations in some homes.
Evaluation: Due to the government level of this website and the highly controversial tragedy at
Love Canal, I have placed strong ethos on the information contained within this website. I found
the toxicological investigation as particular interest due to the alarming concentrations of
chemicals found in the air and soil around Love Canal.
Reflection: Several sources state the acknowledgement of Hooker Chemical dumping chemical
waste into the Love Canal from 1942 – 1953. I plan to utilize a 20 year study from this Site to
help bring a conclusion to my paper.
Whitaker 6
The Poisoned Dream: The Love Canal Nightmare. Dir. Kevin W. Matthews. FH Films for the
Humanities and Sciences. 1997. Salt Lake Community College Films on Demand. 26
July 2014.
Summary: The film primarily focuses on the disaster at Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY from
1976 to 1980. This is the time frame in which the residents of Love Canal were captured the
loudest in the media which ultimately led to the signing of an emergency declaration by
President Jimmy Carter in 1980. A timeline of events is showcased to provide the story line of
the Love Canal Superfund Site.
Evaluation: Since this film doesn’t provide much for a background, I would say the film does not
capture much concrete evidence of the issues at Love Canal. I choose to watch the film with the
mindset more photos of people backyards showing drums or colorful puddles would be shown to
provide a visual for their horror. While I wouldn’t expect to see children with birth defects, the
film only mentions one sentence regarding children born with three ears, extra fingers and toes,
and later one child developed an extra row of teeth.
Reflection: I truly enjoyed watching a film on this subject. I found that taking time to stop
reading all my research and watch some of it as I take notes what somewhat refreshing. I was
able to hear words from the voices of the families affected which eliminated any sort of
journalist misinterpreting the information. I was able to decide what the message was they were
trying to get out.
Whitaker 7
“Apoptosis.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 Jul. 2014. Web.
27 Jul. 2014
Summary: Apoptosis is the process in which cells are programmed to die. All multicellular
organisms have a process in which their cells naturally die and new ones are generated.
Evaluation: Overall, Wikipedia is a medium in which I utilized to gain an understanding of
words used in research papers beyond my knowledge base. I do understand that Wikipedia can
be a conglomerate of several perspectives and could include incorrect data. Therefore, I have
maintained my focus around the intro paragraphs which state clear facts and definitions.
Reflection: I found the intro paragraphs to be informative and will likely use this information to
get my readers to the same understanding in regards to vocabulary.
Whitaker 8
“Biomagnification.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 16 Jun.
2014. Web. 3 Aug. 2014
Summary: Biomagnification occurs when a concentration of a substance, such as DDT or
mercury enters an organism and becomes stored within the tissue. From there, when the
organism is consumed by a predator, the levels of that substance become a part of the predator
organism and therefore magnifies.
Evaluation: Overall, Wikipedia is a medium in which I utilized to gain an understanding of
words used in research papers beyond my knowledge base. I do understand that Wikipedia can
be a conglomerate of several perspectives and could include incorrect data. Therefore, I have
maintained my focus around the intro paragraphs which state clear facts and definitions.
Reflection: I found the intro paragraphs to be informative and will likely use this information to
get my readers to the same understanding in regards to vocabulary.