Pick Your Poison: How Our Mad Dash to Chemical Utopia Is Making Lab Rats of Us All - Hardcover

by Monona Rossol (Author)

How the chemicals in everyday products are killing us--and what the government is not doing about it

Did you know that ""nontoxic"" usually means ""never tested""? Or that many green cleaners are good for the environment but terrible for you? Chemist and activist Monona Rossol goes from under your sink to the halls of the powerful, tracing America's love affair with chemicals that kill, explaining how much worse the problem has gotten in the last decade. Shocking and appalling and completely reckless--that's how she describes the current prevalence of harmful chemicals in our everyday lives. Scientists have started linking our increased rates of cancer, autism, obesity, and asthma (among others) to chemical exposure and Rossol points the finger directly at the companies and executives making millions of dollars by polluting our environment and introducing toxic chemicals into our bodies. She chronicles how everyday toxins get into our bodies and accumulate over time and provides us with inspiration to make changes at the checkout lines. She also explains that Americans are not nearly as well protected by our government as we might think we are. Unlike the European Union, the United States allows chemical companies to produce toxins for use in U.S. consumer products with little to no oversight. While her tone is wry and entertaining, she's also well informed, and her fact-filled treatise makes for absolutely terrifying reading.

• Includes surprising explanations about the chemicals in furniture, detergents, paints, makeup, toys, spray cleaners, ionic air purifiers, art supplies, and more
• Reveals how many eco-friendly products are good for the environment but bad for your health
• Exposes the truth about government regulations, product testing, and labeling, including why terms such as ""nontoxic"" (which often means ""never tested""), ""hypoallergenic,"" and ""FDA-approved"" can be misleading
• Offers practical ways to reduce your exposure and protect yourself and your family

If you're alarmed by the health risks of the many hazardous chemicals we encounter at home, work, and school, don't get frightened, get informed. Read Pick Your Poison to learn the facts and find out what you can do about the daily onslaught of toxins that are making lab rats of us all.

Front Jacket

Did you know that "nontoxic" usually means "never tested"? Or that many green cleaners are good for the environment but terrible for you? Are your air purifiers, counter cleaners, baby powders, and low-VOC paints doing more harm than good? Could the chemical stew we expose ourselves and our children to every day be causing the recent explosion of autism, diabetes, cancer, and other disorders?

In Pick Your Poison, chemist and activist Monona Rossol goes from under your sink to the halls of the powerful, tracing America's love affair with chemicals that kill, explaining how much worse the problem has gotten in the last decade. How bad is it? The terrible truth is that no one really knows, and neither thegovernment nor corporations seem eager to find out.

Shocking and appalling and completely reckless--that's how Rossol describes the current prevalence of harmful chemicals in our everyday lives. Scientists have started linking our increased rates for cancer, autism, obesity, and asthma (among others) to chemical exposure and Rossol points the finger directly at the companies and executives making millions of dollars by polluting our environment and introducing toxic chemicals into our bodies.

Pick Your Poison chronicles how everyday toxins get into our bodies and accumulate over time and provides us with inspiration to make changes at the checkout lines. Rossol also explains that Americans are not nearly as well protected by our government as we might think we are. Unlike the European Union, the United States allows chemical companies to

produce toxins for use in U.S. consumer productswith little to no oversight. While Rossol's tone is wry and entertaining, her fact-filled treatise makes for absolutely terrifying reading. Pick Your Poison:

Includes surprising explanations about the chemicals in furniture, detergents, paints, makeup, toys, spray cleaners, ionic airpurifiers, art supplies, and more

Reveals how many eco-friendly products are good for the environment but bad for your health

Exposes the truth about government regulations, product testing, and labeling, including why terms such as "nontoxic," "hypoallergenic," and "FDA-approved" can be misleading

Offers practical ways to reduce your exposure and protect yourself and your family

If you're alarmed by the health risks of the many hazardous chemicals we encounter at home, work, and school, don't get frightened, get informed. Read Pick Your Poison to learn the facts and find out what you can do about the daily onslaught of toxins that are making lab rats of us all.

Back Jacket

"From her own art studio to Broadway to her own home and kitchen, Monona Rossol takes you on a journey into the toxic reality we inhabit, and which inhabits us. This is a tough topic to treat with a light touch, but Rossol pulls it off--along with tips for avoiding the most potent threats to your health."--Mark Schapiroauthor of Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power

Everyone on the planet has already been exposed to low doses of toxic chemicals, from the womb to the tomb, says industrial chemist Monona Rossol. In Pick Your Poison, she explains that no one anywhere on earth is born without a bodily burden of DDT, PCBs, dioxins, and more. The world's mothers provide the chemicals to their babies from what is already in their own bodies' fat and bones. Even babies born on South Sea Islands or in the frozen wilds of Canada have toxic chemicals in their littlebodies. In fact, these populations usually have higher levels of toxins because the mothers eat fish and marine mammals that are now highly contaminated worldwide. Could this be related to the ever-escalating rates of chronic diseases and cancer, including skyrocketing rates among children? If so, how will we ever know? The majority of the hundred thousand chemicals we find in industrial and commercial products have never even had basic testing for chronic toxicity and carcinogeniceffects. Industries don't want to spend the money for these tests, and our government doesn't require them.

Pick Your Poison provides an urgently needed road map for how you can work to change our laws, change our corporate culture, and change the way you shop to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Author Biography

MONONA ROSSOL, an industrial hygienist, divides her time between inspecting work sites, training workers, and delivering expert testimony in court cases involving chemical exposure. She is the President and founder of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety, Inc., and a regular guest on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC. She has lectured and consulted in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, and Portugal.