Integrating Anthropogenic Pollutants to Hard Red Wheat for Analysis of

Within the last century society’s reliance on petroleum and petroleum based products increased drastically. Currently the United States, the planet’s largest petroleum consumer, consumes twenty-five percent of the planet’s total petroleum, while only holding two percent of the natural resource (Banerjee, 2012). This has led to environmental catastrophes and cultural dependencies. Environmental catastrophes, which include the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon Gulf spill, have demonstrated how a society dependent on petroleum can negatively affect the environment. Currently the Gulf is still undergoing heavy renovation to restore the once naturally rich environment. Oil spills, like the Deepwater Horizon, have led to growing concern about the chemicals society as a whole use and the effects they have on the environment. These catastrophes have led to hot topic debates, mainly due to the harmful anthropogenic pollutants entering the environment, which include global warming fresh water and soil quality. With these concerns arising, the need to protect the environment from anthropogenic pollutants entering the environment is in dire need. Anthropogenic pollutions can enter the soil directly or indirectly. This can originate from leaks, run-offs, mid-night dumping, improper discharge of chemical waste and a wide variety of other sources. Regulation to prevent pollution is in place by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe. However, societies have become reliant on petroleum and petroleum based products, so the need to adapt and evolve becomes necessary in order to combat these pollutants. Adapting and evolving becomes a necessity if a society... ...cessed on March . 13, 2012. Banks K.M, and Schultz E. K. 2005. â€Å"Comparison of Plants for Germination Toxicity Test in Petroleum-Contaminated Soils.† Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 167: 211- 219. Dominguez-Rosado Elena, and John Pichtel. 2004. â€Å"Phytoremediation of Soil Contaminated with Used Motor Oil: II. Greenhouse Studies.† Environmental. Engineering Science 21:169-180. Gillian Adam, and Harry Duncan. 2002. â€Å"Influence of diesel fuel on seed .germination.† Environmental Pollution 120: 363.370. Scotts Miracle Gro. 2012. â€Å"Osmocote Potting Soil.† http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod10650020&. itemId=cat10290002&tabs=general. Assessed on March 21, 2003. Tang Jingchun, Wang Min, Wang Fei, Qing Sun, and Qizing Zhou. 2011. â€Å"Eco-toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil.† Journal of Environmental Science 23: 845-85.1.