EPA Warns Gov. I love the water, and I want it to be safe for swimming every day,” Swain said in an email to National Geographic Voices. Most folks assume that when they flush their toilet, the local sewage treatment plant will take care of the rest. I have been living in Mexico City for more than twenty-five years yet still when I eat out I quite often get a case of the bad shits. Even in semi-retirement, he retains the bulk of a man who never shied away from heavy work. Human poop, which takes about a year to biodegrade, can be an environmental hazard. The sewage pumped into the area receives absolutely no treatment, even the most basic one of separating solids from liquids, and thus the Mezquital Valley, watered by the greatest concentration of human shit in all of Latin America, is commonly referred to as the world’s largest outhouse. Biodiesel is the product of anaerobic bacteria that consume human excrement (one species’ waste is another’s profit). “Everybody around here is on septic,” he says. The level of development of a city can be measured as the distance between its inhabitants and human excrement. Back in the 1990s, my adopted city was the most populated and most polluted on earth. Human urine can cause eutrophication because it contains chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus (Ocean … Educators interested in classroom visits are encouraged to contact Swain by email at onehealthyocean@gmail.com. Collecting lead from feces could one day not only give rise to a moneymaking recycling industry, but it could also become a way to help decontaminate the environment. Learn what the sight, smell, size, color, and shape of your poop can tell you. My thinking goes like this: We live in the most technologically-advanced nation on Earth. Since the Spanish colony was first established here, canals and rivers have been used as dumping grounds for human feces, with thousands of prisoners and indigenous workers forced to dredge the constantly clogged waterways. Indeed, press reports indicate that “piles of human feces” on sidewalks and streets in these cities are becoming all too common. Half the world's population now lives within 60 km of the sea , and three-quarters of all large cities are located on the coast, including 11 of the world’s 15 megacities , each of which has a population greater than 10 million and will add millions more citizens in the coming decade. And I have suffered skin rashes, swollen glands, and ear infections as a result.). Chemicals can also have adverse affect on the surrounding environment and kill beneficial plants and animals. Human sewage might help float the local economy but it does so at a price. 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