Book Review: Poisoned for Profit: How Toxins are Making Our Children Chronically Ill, by Philip and Alice Shabecoff, 2010

Have you ever had the sneaking suspicion that what you don’t know is hurting you? Or, worse still, hurting your kids?

Did you know that since the 1930s, the number of synthetic chemicals put into commercial use has doubled every seven to eight years?

Did you know that, according to the National Research Council, no toxic or safety information is available for more than 80% of the chemicals in everyday-use products?

Philip and Alice Shabecoff have written an exhaustively researched and footnoted book about toxins in our environment and its effects on families and communities via their children. The book is structured in chapters that roughly correspond to a trial (“Inquest; Indictment; Evidence”, etc.), with the Shabecoffs assuming the role of prosecutor.

The Shabecoffs describe the genetic impact of common toxicants in the “Forensics” section. In simple language, they talk about gene expression and disruptors and the various chemicals and their “purported” effects.

In “Scene of the Crime,” a completely normal day for you and your children is described in detail. Here’s an excerpt:

As you dress for the coming day, you slip on some freshly dry-cleaned clothes that…release vapors of perc (perchlorethylene, or PCE1), a chlorinated solvent related to TCE, which can cause cancer and birth defects. Underfoot, the synthetic rug was probably manufactured with a bonding agent concocted of (carcinogenic) styrene-butadiene, applied to the underside to hold together the carpet yarn and backing, and most likely impregnated with Stainmaster, another stain resister like Teflon. Your children breathe these vapors. (67)

The chapter details possible vectors for exposure inside, outside, in food, water, and air. Its comprehensive listing is daunting (and depressing), but extremely informative.

The chapters “Co-Conspirators” and “Witnesses For The Defense” describe the relationship that toxic industries have with research scientists and policy-makers. The Shabecoffs document the phenomenon of politicians and scientists who are funded and/ or favored by toxic industries supporting a desired outcome—an industry party line of ‘no significant relationship/ threat’. In “Witnesses…” the chapter begins with an explanation of the phrase “manufactured uncertainty” describing it as

…the weapon wielded to mischaracterize fundamental policy conflicts over protecting health, calling them instead disagreements over the science (169).

For illustrations of this syndrome, look first to the tobacco industry, and, more recently, to the ‘debate’ over climate change. Incidentally, in the foreword, the “toxification of the environment” is put forth as “at least as serious a threat to human welfare and the future of life on earth as most of us now understand global warming to be”(xii).

In the final chapter, “Justice,” the Shabecoffs discuss what we can do to address this ongoing violation. “Learning and Knowing” is the first step. “Precaution” is the second, followed by “Chemistry Without Harm” (Alternatives to Toxics: baking soda and vinegar cleaners!) and the sea change of shifting towards Green Chemistry. “Motivating Industry,” “Corporate Reform,” “Political Action,” and “Joining Forces” follow. The final chapters include “Rethinking Our Priorities” and “Taking Control.”

We have the power to inform ourselves, to share information, and to work together to protect all of us:

If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to protect a child. We must regain our sense of community, our understanding that what affects one of us can affect us all (249).

In October, the Butte Environmental Council received another two years of funding from the California Wellness Foundation to continue its toxics education and outreach work.

Note 1: Found in the majority of the toxic groundwater plumes in Chico.

From the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of the Environmental News.