More Than Half of Main Mexican Rivers Contaminated teleSUR
go to original March 15, 2017

Greenpeace activists protest against the pollution of the Mexican waterfall, El Salto de Juanacatlan, by the textile industry (EFE)

Sixty percent of the 51 main rivers of Mexico — or 35 of them — are heavily polluted, according to the 2016 Atlas of Water carried out by the National Commission of Water.

The rivers Balsas, Santiago, Panuco, Grijalva-Usumacinta, Turbio, Papaloapan, Coatzacoalcos and Tonala — representing 87 percent of the surface water of the country — are among the most contaminated, the study found.

The main sources of contamination of the rivers come from waste water dropped into the urban and rural sewage systems of Mexican towns, as they are plainly discharged without the appropriate treatment after being used by the several industries, including mining.

Mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, arsenic, cyanide, toluenum, benzene, chloroform and even compounds such as chloride of vinyl and other hormonal disruptors like DEHP were found in the water at abnormal levels.

Read the rest at teleSUR

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