Air Date: Week of June 23, 2000

Living On Earth’s Cynthia Graber reports on a pen-sized water purifier that works with common kitchen salt.

Transcript

TOOMEY: It may not come as a big surprise to people who live in one, but new research shows that neighborhoods plagued by crime, graffiti, and noise have higher than average levels of depression. The study surveyed nearly 2,500 people in Illinois, asking them to describe their physical neighborhoods, and how much vandalism, violence, and other illegal actions they witnessed. Researchers controlled for depression risk factors, including marital status, education, and income, and concluded that environmental depression accounts for a significant percentage of the total causes for depression suffered by people who live in bad neighborhoods. The study also found that environmental depression increases with the level of social disorder. And that's this week's environmental health update. I'm Diane Toomey.