Taking the Lead on Lead

The Public and Catholic school boards for the Thames Valley area (that includes Parkhill) are checking the water in their schools for lead. Although these schools were thought to have been built without lead piping, it is a precaution the school is taking just to make sure there is no lead in the water which could harm staff and students. All schools built before 1989 (118 schools) are going through a six to eight week testing program.
Short term exposure to lead can cause vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, coma or even death. Symptoms of long-term exposure to lower lead levels may be less noticeable but are still serious. Anemia is common and damage to the nervous system may cause impaired mental function. Other symptoms are appetite loss, abdominal pain, constipation, fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability and headache. Continued excessive exposure, as in an industrial setting, can affect the kidneys. Lead is especially dangerous to young children because they can absorb lead more easily.
People living in London, in homes built near 1952 should be concerned about lead in their water. One in four homes tested in London confirmed lead in their homes. However, not all Londoners should be worried; newer houses do not contain lead pipes. If someone does own an older home, a water filter would be a wise decision to install before drinking water from your tap.

The first species I have researched is a fungal disease called Endothia parasitica or Chestnut Blight. It was accidentally brought to a zoologist park in New York by a Chinese chestnut. There is no known method of combating these fungi so it has spread throughout the United States. These fungi would affect any animals that rely on eating chestnuts.
The second species I’ve researched is a relation to the beaver called the nutria. This animal was purposely introduced in the United States to stimulate the fur industry. When the fur industry failed, there was a surplus of these animals because they have no natural enemies. Nutria have severely damaged marsh vegetation which causes conversion of heavy vegetation to open water, thereby removing nesting or over wintering habitat for many birds, and eliminating habitat critical to the juvenile stages of important commercial species such as shrimp, crabs, oysters, many species of young fishes, and others.
Finally, I have researched a flower called the purple-loose-strife. No flowering plant in the Northeast has caused as much concern as the European, marsh-loving Purple-Loose-strife. Crowding out other wetland species with its tenacious root system, Purple Loose-strife is changing the face of many of our freshwater marshes, by turning them into biologically unproductive monocultures. The sometimes vast magenta flowerbeds attract bees and butterflies to their blossoms, but offer no sustenance to higher life-forms. Efforts to control the species by pulling it up have been fruitless. Introducing European beetles that feed exclusively on this plant may prove the best defense.