Personal Health Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Health Risk - Essay Example Personal Health Risk I choose well water as my health risk. Well water contains Arsenic compounds that pose a health risk to people who consume water from the well. I identified arsenic in well water as my health hazard from the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Indeed, EPA defines arsenic as a naturally occurring compound that is odorless and tasteless but harmful to human health. EPA established that about 56 million people America were drinking well water with arsenic at unsafe levels (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2015). Arsenic in ground water emanates from human activities, manufacturing activities, or natural activities. EPA considers higher levels of arsenic  as a ground water  pollutant that derives long term and short-term effects. EPA advices citizens using well water to monitor its arsenic levels before consumption. EPA regulates arsenic in ground water establishing health and environmental-based standards through the maximum contaminant level (MCL), at 0.010 mg/L or 10 ppb (EPA, 2013). In identifying arsenic in drinking water as my health hazard considered arsenic in drinking water as a risk since it would cause harmful effects to my health. Indeed, well water can cause short-term health effects like skin cancer, kidney failure, skin diseases, and harms the nervous systems. To identify arsenic in drinking water as a hazard, I followed EPA risk assessment module that included establishing the magnitude of arsenic present in water where arsenic is the dominant public-health problem for drinking water in America.