Clean Air, Clean Water, Clear Conscience

Humans can survive a few minutes without access to air, a few days without water, and a few weeks without food. Even with access to these commodities, if they are contaminated then humans will suffer health problems. This chapter provides insights into the historical context for the eventual development of, and the recognized need for, clean water and clean air regulations, together with an appreciation of some of the technical challenges and political hesitancy that have been encountered in arriving at the modern regulations. Is this important? Yes; despite palpable improvements in water and air quality over the last three decades, estimates suggest that at least 7 million people die prematurely, annually, because of polluted air and contaminated water; at least four times more than the number of lives lost to COVID-19 in 2020, the first year of the global pandemic. Indeed, almost one-third of the global population does not have access to safe drinking water and over 90% live in areas that do not meet the air quality guidelines stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO). These profound issues seldom receive the same level of attention as topics such as anthropogenic climate change forecasts, water scarcity, and carbon dioxide pollution, albeit students are taught that the global amount of water is inviolate, and that carbon dioxide is a non-contaminating, colorless, odorless, and incombustible gas. How then can there be a scarcity of water and how can a quite unreactive gas cause air pollution? Are humans solely responsible for unsafe water and harmful air? These are simple questions, but the answers are not; they are complex and often disputed.