Customer Reviews

The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-being

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"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.

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.

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.

I highly recommend this book after reading it. It is not a book of great scientific detail, but Nena Baker performs a vital public service as that of a journalist in sounding alarms for dangers that are escaping the interest and awareness for most in our American society. I believe that most of us have come to embrace a myth that there are powers in our society watching our backs and protecting our families adequately from dangers unseen. Hopefully this remains true to some extent, but Nena Baker does a sound job in highlighting threats that remain inadequately opposed.
I used the provided information as an introduction and researched further those topics that seem to pose a threat to our children. Upon further research I was alarmed at what we have been missing. We have been making adjustments.
I think our problem stems from the fact that science advances much more rapidly than our ability and willingness to regulate, and we need people like Nena Baker to inform us when others may not. We may never fully realize the impact or scope of the roads taken versus those not taken in this life, but I am confident that my family will fare better thanks to our introduction into a number of environmental health issues by Ms. Baker.

If anyone wonders what have we done to ourselves in the past fifty years, or if anyone is concerned about your own health or those you care about, let alone the world we live in, you gotta read this book! The Body Toxic is the most informative, well-written and useful book of any of the books I've read about the reality of toxic chemicals in our everyday lives and products (and bodies). This book is written by a journalist who knows how to explore and expose how we got into this mess and then explains what the challenges and problems are concerning some of the chemicals I hear about sometimes in the news. Like bisphenol A, phthalates, flame retardants and those perfluorinated substances that the Environmental Working group and others call the "teflon" chemicals. What I appreciated most in this book is how The Body Toxic ends with examples of what other countries like Canada and Europe are doing to better protect people from toxic chemicals everyday and then gives examples of some simple changes everyone one of us can make to help reduce exposures. Since I read this book, I have been changing the way I shop, cook and buy. I read labels from food to cleaning supplies to shampoo and conditioners and more. Overall, this book is a thoughtful, thoroughly researched and important book. As I finished it, I could tell that this is the beginning of a subject that needs to become a national conversation for changing the way we live. I strongly recommend it.

In 2005, I tried to find information about the topics covered in this book on my own and found it very challenging. Nena Baker does a great job of thoroughly covering atrazine, phthalates, PBDEs, BPA, and perflourinated chemicals in one fairly quick 230-page read. I appreciate her focus on policy change and details about the failures of our 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and how the EU is now regulating chemicals. I also love the great information shared in the appendices. Anyone who is concerned about our increasing body burden and the effect of these chemicals on our children and the environment should read this book. It is one of the most thorough on the subject.

THE BODY TOXIC: HOW THE HAZARDOUS CHEMISTRY OF EVERYDAY THINGS THREATENS OUR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING is a winning modern health guide from an investigative journalist who explores the factors which have lead to toxic chemicals in the environment and their effects on humans and the planet. From manufacturing breakthroughs to policy decisions and politics, chapters consider the influences on chemical companies worldwide and the habits which result, making for a key survey.

I remember when something made of plastic was considered less than optimum. Now we are consuming, breathing and stitched back together by a myriad of synthetic materials. Baker's book makes it crystal clear how little our health is considered by government or corporations before these products make it to market. She has opened up a very pertinent topic for discussion. Hopefully, it will incite some of us to take action towards greater protections. It is an especially important book for every mother to read.

The topic is fascinating, and the work well researched and factually specific. One can only hope that the public and the governmental agencies sit up and take notice.

I was aware of some of the hidden dangers in chemicals, cleaners, make-up etc. The book gave more examples of these toxic substances. We really are not aware what we are doing to our bodies on a day to day basis. And what's even more interesting is how these companies can get away with poisoning us without any consequences!