Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Grossman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1597263702 | ISBN-13: 978-1597263702 | Edition: 1

Each day, headlines warn that baby bottles are leaching dangerous chemicals, nonstick pans are causing infertility, and plastic containers are making us fat. What if green chemistry could change all that? What if rather than toxics, our economy ran on harmless, environmentally-friendly materials?
 

Elizabeth Grossman, an acclaimed journalist who brought national attention to the contaminants hidden in computers and other high tech electronics, now tackles the hazards of ordinary consumer products. She shows that for the sake of convenience, efficiency, and short-term safety, we have created synthetic chemicals that fundamentally change, at a molecular level, the way our bodies work. The consequences range from diabetes to cancer, reproductive and neurological disorders.
 

Yet it’s hard to imagine life without the creature comforts current materials provide—and Grossman argues we do not have to. A scientific revolution is introducing products that are “benign by design,” developing manufacturing processes that consider health impacts at every stage, and is creating new compounds that mimic rather than disrupt natural systems. Through interviews with leading researchers, Grossman gives us a first look at this radical transformation.
 

Green chemistry is just getting underway, but it offers hope that we can indeed create products that benefit health, the environment, and industry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“There are enough environmental problems that seem insoluble… Elizabeth Grossman has given us this chronicle of a field with a bright future, the green chemistry that will replace the crude methods of the 19th century with the smart ones of the 21st. She tells us how it could happen—we should listen carefully!”

(Bill McKibben author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy )

“As much as we have to fear from climate change, what scares me just as much is the vast number of untested substances we dump into the environment each year in huge quantities and with unknown effects. Only a small cadre of chemists really understands this problem and what to do about it. With Chasing Molecules, Elizabeth Grossman gives us the first book to tell their story. A tireless investigative journalist, she expertly distills the science of green chemistry and the promise it holds for a healthier world.”

(Paul R. Ehrlich co-author of The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment )

"Grossman profiles the worst offenders, including bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, but she also portrays the good guys who are coming to the rescue, John Warner and Paul Anastas, founders of the burgeoning green chemistry movement. Green chemistry aims to replace hazardous synthetic chemicals with chemicals that are "benign by design." Grossman''s clarion expose should give this lifesaving initiative a big boost.”

(Donna Seaman Booklist )

"I couldn''t put this book down. I began reading before bedtime, finished as the first birds began singing, and felt a whole new world had been revealed to me. Chasing Molecules is the most important book I''ve read in ten years."

(Sandra Steingraber biologist and author, Living Downstream )

About the Author

Elizabeth Grossman is the author of High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health, Watershed: The Undamming of America, and Adventuring Along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Her writing has appeared in Mother Jones, The Nation, Salon, The Washington Post, and other publications. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Shearwater; 1 edition (September 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597263702
• ISBN-13: 978-1597263702
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, useful resource . . . plus a great read, February 9, 2011

By 

UC Berkeley Health Educator - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry (Hardcover)

I co-authored a day-long UC Berkeley/UCLA training curriculum, Decoding Green Chemistry for Workers, funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. Among the scientists I consulted during development were Dr. Michael Wilson at the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, and Dr. Julia Quint, former Chief of HESIS (California's Hazard Evaluation System and Information Service. Both are members of California's Green Ribbon Science Panel. Chasing Molecules was essential in translating complex scientific information, principles, and case studies into clear, understandable, relevant,and downright fascinating material. We drew from both its language and content to design a training that brought the excitement of green chemistry to those that are among the most vulnerable population to long-term toxic chemical exposure. The workers we trained were interested and highly motivated to explore the practical applications of green chemistry after our workshop, and much of that is due to the framework provided by Grossman's book. It is a thoroughly researched work and has been instrumental in our promoting our understanding of the issue as public health professionals. Anecdotally, I spoke with a Berkeley PhD chemist specializing in green chemistry research that has personally recommended Chasing Molecules to both his chemist and non-chemist communities. It's an excellent resource and extremely accessible.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Grossman at her best - timely and much needed book, February 6, 2011

By 

Ted Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry (Hardcover)

Elizabeth Grossman has become one of the preeminent independent science writers of our era, bringing much needed and timely insight to one of most vexing challenges of the 21st century - how to prevent the devastating and growing public and environmental health impacts of the unprecedented growth of synthetic chemicals, in our workplaces, our communities and in our bodies. In "Chasing Molecules" she shows us that she's done her homework and demonstrates her vast knowledge of the subject matter along with a keen intelligence that not only makes the connections visible and understandable, but does so in language that is clear and offers a clarion call for action.

Ted Smith, Founder and former Executive Director of Silcon Valley Toxics Coalition; Coordinator of International Campaign for Responsible Technology; and co-autor of "Challenging the chip: labor rights and environmental justice in the global electronics industry" - [...]

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, September 29, 2010

By 

New Jersey Scientist - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry (Hardcover)

This book is obviously written by a person with no qualification about an important subject that is central to our modern society. The author tried to expose the problems with many of the chemicals used in our daily lives, including BPA, phthalates, Teflon, nano-material, etc. Unfortunately, most of the the material in this book are old, extremely superfacial and poorly organized. The last chapter "Toward a Greening of Chemistry" cited extensively the research work of one professor, whom, I suspect, maybe the only person the author spoke to. As a result, the book missed the large amount of real progress in sustainable and beneficial green chemistry. Most unfortunately, the author took up a very early academic study, poly-thymine, as a likely next generation material, simply because thymine is a natural-occuring material, present in all living cell, and talked up by this one professor. This "advocacy" approach easily lead the public into a dangerous path. The author used cosmetics as an example for our daily use of unsafe chemicals, and promoted the use of alternative chemicals in cosmetics. She sourly missed an opportunity to educate the reader for the advantage of reduction and elimination of cosmetics. What a sad loss of opportunity. The writing is tortuous with many extraneous personal tibits. The book, with more than 200 pages, added nothing new, nothing educational and nothing insightful. Skip it.