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Summary Of Living Downstream By Sandra Steingraber

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The purpose of this paper is to reflect on Sandra Steingraber's book, Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment, and analyze Jim Tarters essay of how he expresses his thoughts on this subject. In Jim Tarter’s essay of “Some Live More Downstream than Others: Cancer, Gender, and Environmental Justice”, he generally discusses the relationship among cancer, environmental issues and social justice. As he attempts to inspire those who read his essay to be involved; to care about the environment.
He himself was diagnosed with cancer at twenty-seven, but was fortunately cured after many months of treatment. Sadly his friend, sister and aunt also was diagnosed with cancer. Since they all suffered from the plague of cancer, they began to believe that cancer could be attained genetically through family genes. But, Jim Tarter(along with his sister,Karan) thought something else could have influenced the reason how they all attained cancer.
Carson and Steingraber’s texts argue a connection between environmental exploitation and human exploitation or social justice (Jim Tarter, Inquiry: 824). While they were victims to the plague of cancer (still writing), in their books they pointed out new dangers from recently released chemicals that could have had an effect on cancer patients (or …show more content…

Unfortunately in order to provide fact from myth, distinct proof is necessary for valid action to be taken place. Now this being said, I do believe his theory of cancer being related to unnatural causes; its been proven that many diseases and issues have been caused by humans infectious ways. Cancer in any form is deadly and typically unavoidable, however with Tarters essay it would give an entire new perspective on how the human race fights cancer. His essay gives people a chance, before they become afflicted such as himself and those around him (his

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