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From Publishers Weekly
This is a chilling look at the questionable safety of nearly everything we store food in, drink from, wear, walk on, rest on and drive. Chemicals used to make everything from water-repellant jackets and flame retardants to unbreakable plastics used for food storage are building up in our bodies and the environment with possible far-reaching consequences, says journalist Baker. She focuses on endocrine disruptors that alter hormone levels, even in fetuses. Individual chapters consider the weed killer atrazine; phthalates found in many cosmetics; and perfluorooctanoic acid, used in nonstick and stain-repellant coatings. Lab studies have linked these chemicals to cancer, diabetes, obesity and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, among other problems. Baker blasts both Democrats and Republicans in Congress for the toothless Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, which leaves testing and reporting results to the manufacturer. But the companies rely on skilled public relations firms to attack scientists who raise safety concerns. The current pro-business administration also takes some licks from Baker. Although she offers suggestions for reducing exposure to these chemicals, No place—and no one—is immune. (Aug. 12)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
“This important book will make it impossible to ignore the inconvenient truths about products we use everyday. Be prepared to be amazed at what is known and not known about thousands of chemicals that are used in our clothes, our homes, our pizza boxes, and just about everything else.” — Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D., President, National Research Center for Women & Families
"Nena Baker makes an exciting and eye-opening contribution to the growing public awareness of environmental health. The intimate communion between our bodies and the world around us is revealed here with uncommon clarity. Be astonished. Send The Body Toxic to everyone you care about."—Sandra Steingraber, author of Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks a Cancer and the Environment
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well Done,
By
This review is from: Body Toxic (Hardcover)
Body Toxic, by journalist Nena Baker, is a well researched book on a sobering and chilling topic.Baker describes the ineffectiveness of both the EPA and FDA. She writes: "A scathing 2007 report prepared by members of the agency's own science advisory panel concluded that the FDA is suffering from serious deficiencies that put American lives at risk." All of us--regardless of how well we take care of ourselves--have bodies filled with chemical contaminants. All animals and humans all over the world have contaminants that are stored in fat, bones, blood and organs. Chemicals are in virtually everything--toys, water repellent clothes, plastic, paint, cosmetics, cleaners and more. Baker writes that the vast majority of the 80,000 industrial substances in our country have not been tested for potential toxic effects. Baker calls the mid 20th century "The Synthetic Age," and basically informs us that baby boomer's are the first crop of people to be exposed to heavy-duty amounts of chemicals in everything from hula hoops to polystyrene cups, DDT, Saran Wrap and synthetic clothes. There is a chapter devoted to the weed killer Atrazine and its affect on frogs, dangerous cosmetics and plastics and perfluorinated chemicals found in non-stick pans. There is also a chapter on looking ahead to much-needed policy changes, and how to avoid excess chemicals from everyday objects. Baker includes a list of what she does to avoid exposure. The list is a good start, as are the other suggestions in the following chapter, but it is not comprehensive. I suggest Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet to supplement The Body Toxic, as it has hundreds of ways to reduce exposure to chemicals. Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care is another book with good additional information. Highly recommend!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews) 23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book!,
By Bend Sinister - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Body Toxic (Hardcover)
"A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel agreed Friday that the agency had erred in August when it said that a chemical widely used in baby bottles and other plastic packaging for foods and beverages posed no health risks." This is a quote from and article that appeared in The Washington Post on Nov 1, 2008. Newspapers across the country reported what many, including Baker, already knew to be true. The panel, made up of toxicology experts, also concluded that the FDA had relied too heavily on studies funded by industry. Baker has brought to light information about toxics that the industry would prefer to be kept from the public. Baker does not draw conclusions beyond her reach, rather she presents valuable data about a number of toxic chemicals through stories about people who have given their lives to the subject. At times, I wished she had more vehemently opposed the use of toxics in consumer products. I wished she had pointed the finger directly at the companies and executives making millions of dollars by polluting our environment and introducing toxic chemicals to our bodies. But then she would have been no better than the industry PR flaks who had been trying to convince the public that BPA was safe because the FDA said it was safe. Well, now we know that the FDA needs to revisit the subject. Now we know what our guts already knew: everytime you make a purchase, ask yourself if it's really worth the potential damage to our bodies and our planet. As I type this from my Apple laptop (one of the most toxic products on the market), I appreciate Baker's less than accusatory tone, but her book compels me to make better decisions going forward.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Body Toxic,
By T. Winston Morgan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Body Toxic (Hardcover)
Nena Baker's "The Body Toxic" is an informative, well-documented call to action about how everyday toxins - unregulated in the United States - get into our bodies and accumulate over time. Unlike in the European Union, the United States - I was shocked to learn - allows chemical companies to produce toxins for use in U.S. consumer products with little-to-no oversight. If you have kids, read this book. If you thought that consumer safety was a hallmark of the U.S. economy (which I did, naively), think again and read this book. If you are worried about the rising rates of cancer, autism, asthma, and other diseases, read this book. You will learn what you need to know to protect yourself, your family, and maybe even get involved to help eliminate the environmental hazards that are part of our everyday existence. Baker's book is a not a zero-sum argument, either; there is a way to grow our economy and still mitigate the hazardous substances that are heaped on us even though these substances are known to be toxic.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read,
By Fact Checker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Body Toxic (Hardcover)
This book is well researched and invaluable to understanding the hazardous chemicals that we are exposed to every day. Its strength is that the author, Ms. Baker, does not make conclusory statements without factual and scientific substantiation, like some books in this area unfortunately do. (Compare "The Body Toxic" with "Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children.") Ms. Baker carefully and precisely sets forth the scientific facts underlying the book's theme yet does so in an engaging way by including real-life stories that illustrate the hazards behind the scientific facts. The way that she exposes the dangers of assuming that the FDA is protecting the public with regard to these chemicals is especially compelling. In summary, "The Body Toxic" is an exceptionally well-written investigative book that we can't afford to ignore.
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