4 ms·

Sewage was widely believed to be deadly due to its association with "night airs", which the (now disproven) miasma theory of disease held was responsible for ma

Sewage was widely believed to be deadly due to its association with "night airs", which the (now disproven) miasma theory of disease held was responsible for many infections. While John Snow demonstrated the epidemiological evidence for contagion (physical contact) as the mechanism for disease transmission in 1857, actual proof that bacteria were the caustative agent in contagious infectious disease only became available in the late 1870s (via the work of, in particular, Robert Koch and Louis Pasteir), and medical opinion (as with public opinion) was slow to adapt to new scientific findings in those days. More on the miasma theory of disease here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miasma_theory

polaritron 8y ago
There's definitely still a sewage treatment plant near the site of the accident: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sheerness,+UK/@51.5112905,0.0848886,1853m/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sheerness,+UK/@51.5112905,... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beckton#Sewage_works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beckton#Sewage_works But you can't discount the difference between the dictionary definition of "sewage" versus the reality of incidental pollution as discovered in-situ. Case in point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowanus_Canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowanus_Canal http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/03/post_25.html http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/03/post_25.html https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/ten-feet-of-black-mayonnaise-line-the-gowanus-canal-101315 https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/ten-feet-of-black-mayon... https://ny.curbed.com/2018/7/19/17590126/brooklyn-gowanus-dredgers-canoeing-superfund-site https://ny.curbed.com/2018/7/19/17590126/brooklyn-gowanus-dr... http://nautil.us/blog/in-the-black-mayonnaise-of-brooklyns-gowanus-canal-alien-life-is-being-born http://nautil.us/blog/in-the-black-mayonnaise-of-brooklyns-g... https://www.brownstoner.com/development/gowanus-canal-black-mayonnaise-superfund-epa-cleanup-brooklyn/ https://www.brownstoner.com/development/gowanus-canal-black-... https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161123/gowanus/gowanus-canal-debris-removal-epa-environmental-protection-agency/ https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161123/gowanus/gowanus-ca... Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtown_Creek https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtown_Creek

polaritron 8y ago

There's definitely still a sewage treatment plant near the site of the accident: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sheerness,+UK/@51.5112905,0.0848886,1853m/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sheerness,+UK/@51.5112905,... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beckton#Sewage_works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beckton#Sewage_works But you can't discount the difference between the dictionary definition of "sewage" versus the reality of incidental pollution as discovered in-situ. Case in point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowanus_Canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowanus_Canal http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/03/post_25.html http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/03/post_25.html https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/ten-feet-of-black-mayonnaise-line-the-gowanus-canal-101315 https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/ten-feet-of-black-mayon... https://ny.curbed.com/2018/7/19/17590126/brooklyn-gowanus-dredgers-canoeing-superfund-site https://ny.curbed.com/2018/7/19/17590126/brooklyn-gowanus-dr... http://nautil.us/blog/in-the-black-mayonnaise-of-brooklyns-gowanus-canal-alien-life-is-being-born http://nautil.us/blog/in-the-black-mayonnaise-of-brooklyns-g... https://www.brownstoner.com/development/gowanus-canal-black-mayonnaise-superfund-epa-cleanup-brooklyn/ https://www.brownstoner.com/development/gowanus-canal-black-... https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161123/gowanus/gowanus-canal-debris-removal-epa-environmental-protection-agency/ https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20161123/gowanus/gowanus-ca... Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtown_Creek https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtown_Creek