Chernobyl Questions

1) What test was being run on the reactors?

2) What was the gland that the exposure to the radiation often affected?

3) What was the official Soviet figure representing how much radiation leaked in curies?

4) What is the structure around the reactor referred to as?

5) What did the article call the people who predicted over 100,000 cases of cancer to be diagnosed because of the Chernobyl incident?

6) About how thick were the walls of the building around the reactor?

Love Canal Questions

What reliable sources have declared the area safe?

Is there any idea of how toxic the fenced-off area is now?

How often does someone go out and physically monitor the site?

Is it safe for a town to be literally across the street from the toxic area?

Who determined where the fence should be placed, and how did they determine that the toxic area stopped there?

Love Canal, Video Part 2

Toxic waste began being pushed to the surface in Love Canal when groundwater levels rose dramatically in a year when there was heavy rain and snowfall.

Some of the health hazards associated with the chemicals were cancers, liver diseases, and heart diseases.

Other parts of the ecosystem affected by Love Canal were the animals on and near Love Canal, and the ground and water in the area. The animals were affected much as humans were, and the ground and water in that area are still being treated because of the toxicity.

Hazards of Oil Dispersants

The long term physical effects of dispersants on marine life are horrifying.
The dispersants break down lipid membrane, making it easier for the oil to penetrate skin and cause internal bleeding. These dispersants also cause birth defects. Birth defects can be hereditary, thus one generation with defects and mutations can pass them on to generations past the oil spill but who still feel its effects.
Solving this problem is definitely creating an even bigger problem. The spill is four times as toxic with these dispersants added to it. If we didn't use dispersants, we would not cause defects, mutations, and pain to marine animals. The Corexit alone is actually causing deaths at less than 1/7 of the crude oil by itself.
The dispersants are definitely worse than the oil. It's more toxic, it causes more problems, and it isn't really even effective.

Chemical Dispersants

Can chemical dispersants become a sludge overtime like oil can in the ocean?

Can chemical dispersants clean things besides oil in the ocean?

Do the dispersants directly destroy the oil or does it make it easier for something else to?