Poisoned Profits

I love nonfiction books. I love finding out other people's point of view and reading about their travels, life experiences or research. The latest book I read is called Poisoned Profits: the toxic assault on our children.

Ok, so the title is a little scary, I know. You should know that most authors do not title their own books, editors do, so I'm chalking up this title to that. But you should also know how AMAZING this book is. I hope all of my blog readers go to their library or book store and check this out. This is especially interesting for any parent, soon-to-be-parent, or anyone interested in the environment or learning disabilities.

I first found out about Poisoned Profits on NPR. Diane Rehm was interviewing the authors and critics of the book. It was a very interesting - and sometimes heated- conversation.

Essentially the book is presented like a trial would be, with evidence, defense, witnesses for the defense, victims, and justice chapters. The authors are particularly interested in how chemicals affect our children, because most research, public policy and warning labels only apply to adults. Children, and children in-utero are much more susceptible to environmental factors. This book explores this point.

I used to think the placenta filtered out much of the chemicals the mother is exposed to, but this book said no, that a ton of chemicals are still found in babies umbilical cords, meaning that the placenta cannot filter out these chemicals. This book talks about which chemicals are particularly harmful, and where they can be found. (pesticides, water, food, air, etc.)

The authors are journalists, so they write very factually. As a former professional writer I appreciate this! It's annoying when the writers blatently put their bias into articles, because you don't hear the evidence, only the emotion. This book is not like that.

Some of the effects of these chemicals in animal testing have shown:
-autism like symptoms
-ADHD, ADD like symptoms
-non hodgkins lymphoma
-cancer
-tumors
-birth defects
-learning disabilities

If you're interested in learning more about what this book talks about, their website is:
http://www.poisonedprofits.com/solutions.php?page=2

The best part is the solutions page, which I have linked to. It gives a list of great websites and awareness-type information. If you read this book, let me know how you like it!

You can see the cover on my shelfari to the left. I will never be the same after reading this book.