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Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children [NOOK Book]
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The authors of this unsettling indictment of American industrial mendacity detail the impact of the "trillions of tons" of largely unregulated toxic pollutants that have been poured into the environment after WWII when synthetic chemical compounds entered mainstream life. The Shabecoffs argue that the world is becoming a perilous place for the young; fetuses, newborns and toddlers are vastly more vulnerable to environmental contaminants than adults, and hazards lie latent in teething rings (leaching plastic toxins), bath water (laced with chemical contaminants), lush lawns (dusted with herbicides) and the very air they breathe-all contributing directly to a "rising incidence of childhood illness," including asthma, autism, cancer-once "a rarity" among children-and even a drop in average IQ. The authors build their compelling case against polluters like dogged prosecutors, condemning "perpetrators," including General Electric and Dow Chemical, slamming "co-conspirators," most prominently compliant conservative governments, and exposing "witnesses for the defense," among them misleading scientists-for-hire. The authors' passionate exposé of corporate America's behavior is numbing in its impact; an appendix detailing steps parents can take to reduce risk eases the angst. (Aug. 12)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.1 Inquest 3
2 Indictment 15
3 Victims 25
4 Evidence 38
5 Scene of the Crime 68
6 Forensics 95
7 Perpetrators 126
8 Co-Conspirators 153
9 Witnesses for the Defense 172
10 Posse Comitatus 198
11 Values 220
12 Justice 236
App. A How to Reduce Your Child's Risk and Change the Future 263
App. B Resources 277
Notes 285
Bibliography 339
Index 341
Anonymous
Posted September 3, 2008
Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children, by Philip and Alice Shabecoff, examines the correlation between the rise of childhood illnesses and industrial and environmental pollution over the past half century. The authors use their expertise--he as a reporter for The New York Times and she as a freelance journalist--to present solid evidence that industry is harming our environment and children. The amount of research that went into this book is staggering, but the book doesn't overwhelm it is quite readable. Companies like GE, Monsanto, Dow and DuPont are cited as perpetrators in the poisoning of the environment. The role of the government, including the EPA, in allowing corporations to pollute, is presented. The reader will understandably want to reduce their child's risks of getting sick, and in Appendix A, there are a number of ways to reduce toxicity in the home. For those who want more information on how to make ones home eco-friendly to reduce the chances of illness, Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living offers non-toxic cleaning products and Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet provides information for making the entire home toxic free. This isn't an easy book to digest, but like Silent Spring, it is a must-read for the survival of future generations and the planet.
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Overview
In this shocking and sobering book, two fearless journalists directly and definitively link industrial toxins to the current rise in childhood disease and death. In the tradition of Silent Spring, Poisoned Profits is a landmark investigation, an eye-opening account of a country that prizes money over children’s health.With indisputable data, Philip Shabecoff and Alice Shabecoff reveal that the children of baby boomers–the first to be raised in a truly “toxified” world–have higher rates of birth defects, asthma, cancer, autism, and other serious illnesses than previous generations. In piercing case histories, the authors identify the culprit as ...