How Everyday Products Make People Sick, Updated and Expanded: Toxins at Home and in the Workplace

by Paul D. Blanc

This book reveals the hidden health dangers in many of the seemingly innocent products we encounter every day―a tube of glue in a kitchen drawer, a bottle of bleach in the laundry room, a rayon scarf on a closet shelf, a brass knob on the front door, a wood plank on an outdoor deck. A compelling exposé, written by a physician with extensive experience in public health and illustrated with disturbing case histories, How Everyday Products Make People Sick is a rich and meticulously documented account of injury and illness across different time periods, places, and technologies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2007

Reviews

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a book! I wouldn’t mind owning this because it’s such a fantastic reference book and really goes into detail of the history of scientific reports on specific chemicals, on government and companies and their blatant disregard for the health of employees in factories or even the health of consumers. Such great historical references but at the same time it makes you furious- why has our government continued to allow these things to happen? Even to this day, there is little to no regulation on a lot of absolutely dangerous substances and citizens continue to be ignorant to the dangers of these chemicals. Only by reading up on everything we use and utilizing our purchasing power as well as speaking up, sharing this information with your family and friends and with organizations whose mission is public health.

[Krista Bolan]

Although parts of this book were extremely interesting, it's a little more scholarly than my current mood. It has lots of cool case studies in it though and there's a lot to learn here about how chemicals have been affecting human health for much longer than we tend to give them credit. The book includes extensive footnotes for further clarification. Time to move onto something a little lighter, I'm afraid.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed history and background on many instances of poisons at work and in the home and how they effect people. And sadly how the government agencies -EPA, OSHA and such fail to protect the worker favoring the business instead. Starting out with a chapter entitled something like: "What is old is new again," points out how long humans have been dealing with toxins in the environment. Overall? A bit scary.

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, everyday products can make you sick. It is bad, but the author fails to point out that is used to be worse. Quite the contrary: the old ways are the best ways, even calls them natural. And putting MD on the cover makes things worse.

Finally the text is dull.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

An eye-popper! Scientists have been documenting air pollution, etc for centuries. Somehow all their research still gets swept under the rug. I wasn't able to finish it but enjoed it.

[Cherie · Rating 1 out of 5]

C I skimmed this mainly; I had high hopes, but it seems to be written for someone writing a paper or highly science-obsessed rather than the regular environmentalist like myself.

[Private Account · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Never live near a factory
*Never Never Never work in a factory
*Many toxins have been around forever. People know this and still work with them and use them....