Customer Reviews

Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power

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I pulled this book out of the library in Urbana, Illinois while visiting a friend and didn't put it down until I was done. Now I find myself ordering my own copy so my daughter can read it as well. Bottom line: this book reveals how the people of the USA are not as well protected by our government as we might think we are. The recent lead-paint-in-toys recall and this year's pet-food-debacle, while not addressed, become more understandable for those of us who might have thought, "now how could *that* happen?" It happens because the US standards are not as tight as they should be!

The book addresses the thousands of chemicals all around us -- those in our appliances, our cosmetics and toiletries, even our food, and shows how very little testing is done on these chemicals before we are subjected to them. It also covers the political and economic aspects of the topic, including how there is contamination of "normal" crops due to cross pollination with Genetically Modified crops, and how the US crops could be losing their global appeal.

Forget about going to see a thriller at the Cinema 13 tonight -- just read this book to get yourself good and frightened!

I had not realized till I read this book that Europe seems more interested in health than corporate profits, as evidenced by how closely they watch modern products. The US used to be a leader in this regard, but now govt agencies are tools of big business. It's sad, but the hope is that the standards that the Europeans set (and by osmosis, Japan and China) will gradually improve the safety of products in the US. No company likes having two versions of a product.

Sadly, we cannot depend of the FDA, USDA, and other agencies to safeguard our health. Better to know than not so we can act accordingly. Better get the book.

Over the years I have witnessed representatives of America's chemical industry seeking to weaken proposed new health and environmental standards in Brussels and generally decrying the European approach as 'non-sensical'. This book shows how and why such efforts were misplaced, ultimately self-defeating and inimical to the US consumer.

My attention was brought to this book by an article in The Economist ('Brussels rules OK', Sep 20th 2007). The article generally concerned the European regulatory approach and how it was influencing not just developments in its own markets, but also abroad, as other countries used the EU standards as benchmarks for their own regulation. Even the US industry seemed to have sat up and noticed at last.

Concerning "Exposed", The Economist wrote: 'A gripping new book by an American, Mark Schapiro, captures the change. When he began his research, he found firms resisting the notion that the American market would follow EU standards for items like cosmetics, insisting that their American products were already safe. But as the book neared completion, firm after firm gave in and began applying EU standards worldwide, as third countries copied European rules on things like suspected carcinogens in lipstick. Even China is leaning to the European approach, one Procter & Gamble executive tells Mr Schapiro, adding wistfully: "And that's a pretty big country."

The book records similar American reactions to the spread of EU directives insisting that cars must be recycled, or banning toxins such as lead and mercury from electrical gadgets. Obey EU rules or watch your markets "evaporating", a computer industry lobbyist tells Mr Schapiro. "We've been hit by a tsunami," says a big wheel from General Motors. American multinationals that spend money adjusting to European rules may lose their taste for lighter domestic regulations that may serve only to offer a competitive advantage to rivals that do not export. Mr Schapiro is a campaigner for tougher regulation of American business. Yet you do not have to share his taste for banning chemicals to agree with his prediction that American industry will want stricter standards to create a level playing-field at home.'

At times I found the anecdotal style a little irritating, wishing it were counterbalanced by a more formal, factual presentation. However, the book grabs ones attention and tells its story well. If one wishes to follow up specific issues, the chapter notes and index at the end are useful.

This was a great book, and everyone should know about the toxics that we deal with in everyday life. The book is very well referenced, which was great considering the magnitude of the toxic impact that this book points out in our everyday life. I wish every politician in the U.S. would read this book, as it reavals a very subtle, yet very powerful tide-change, that is occurring in the world today, leaving the U.S. behind because we refuse to acknowledge the truth right in front of us.

This book is perfect for everyone interested in the environment, health, and politics.

There probably isn't a single person in the United States whose health hasn't been affected by phthalates (pronounced tha-lates). These guys are plastic softeners. You'll find them in shower curtains, shampoo bottles, raincoats, perfumes, rubber duckies, teething rings, car dashboards--you name it. They're linked with endocrine ailments. They make your hormones crazy. They lower sperm counts, may be linked to prostate and breast cancers, and sexual disfunction. They can cause genetic mutations.

And they're entirely unnecessary. There are other nontoxic additives to make plastic pliable.

Oh, and one more thing: while perfectly legal in the U.S., phthalates are illegal in the European Union. In fact, as author Schapiro points out, a whole cesspool of toxic additives that are perfectly acceptable in the U.S. have been outlawed in the EU for a long time now. Chinese factories that try to sell phthalate-riddled plastic toys in Europe get their commodities rejected at the borders. Guess where they eventually wind up? Under your kid's Christmas tree. As Schapiro says (p. 189), the U.S. is becoming "a dumping ground or goods not wanted elsewhere in the world."

That the FDA and other governmental agencies are doing a crappy job protecting us from harmful and unnecessary toxins in everyday commodities probably doesn't come as much of a shock to anyone. But Schapiro's speculation about why the EU does such a better job watchdogging its citizens is worth heeding. Health care in the EU is nationalized. The government, using in part taxpayer monies, picks up the tab for taking care of sick and dying people. In this kind of health care environment, you better believe that preventive medicine is a high governmental priority, because neglect today costs more tomorrow. So it's in the interest of the individual EU states, as well as their tax-paying citizens, to make sure that toxins stay out of their countries.

Something to think long and hard about if you live in a country like the U.S. big on deregulation, privatized health care, and plastic stuff.

I bought and read this book together with How Everyday Products Make People Sick: Toxins at Home and in the Workplace where my review has ten links to other books that I will not duplicate here.

I found the book sensible and compelling on three points:

1) Weak US environmental law are turning the US into a dumping ground for unhealthy products that Europe and Asia will not accept

2) The European Union is a bigger client of China's than the US

3) The European Union is not just making very strong and sensible regulation about public safety, it is carrying those requirements all the way to the Chinese factory floor, and in the process, making both China and Europe superior to the US on the manufacturing and sustainability fronts.

I was especially concerned to read about toys made of plastic whos vapor emissions harm children over time.

The author tells us that the US is suffering from "analysis paralysis" and that Europe is at least a decade ahead of us.

The "dirty dozon" (sic--I count eleven) of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are:

· Aldrin

· Chlordane

· DDT

· Dieldin

· Dioxins

· Furans

· Heptachlor

· Hexachlorobenzine

· Mirex

· Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

· Toxaphene

Digital component waste is mentioned throughout the book.

The book concludes with a look at genetically modified crops, and a French court finding that farmers were acting in self-defense when they destroyed such grops at research farms.

REACH is the EU's Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals program and it is becoming a global standard (except in the US).

Good notes and index.

See also:

Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies

The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy

The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead

The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It

Recommended reading for every human on the planet who can read. (Perhaps Mr. Bush can have someone read this to him from the cliff notes version since by his own admission, he does not read.)

Having heard the author on Terri Gross and NPR, I sought out and read this book with alarming interest. I am now horrified and disgusted at our pathetic governing organizations. I knew our environment was bad, but I had no idea that it was nearly THIS bad.

I've always been curious if every product we touch, eat, watch and drive in has something toxic in it and the author has confirmed my fears and more.

Personally, I don't care if the U.S. is not the number one economy in the world OR a world leader in product safety. Economics and leadership are not important if your brain is rotting away or your kidneys decide to quit working or the air you breathe and the water you drink is filled with enough toxins to slowly kill you. And, thanks to every U.S. administration from Nixon on, that's what kind of toxic world we've left our children.

Carcinogens, Mutagens and Toxins... we're bathed in them daily at our own expense and risk.

Thanks for a great book and opening my eyes. Now, if only you could collaborate with Mr. Moore and get this on the big screen!

I just finished reading "Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power"; there is no question that it honors its title and exposes "What's at Stake for American Power" in the world and at home.

Clearly we have fallen behind the environmental curve and, while only citing the GOP / Bush power structure in passing, the burden of responsibility clearly falls on the Republican Party and all those who support it.

It would be nice to say "politics aside" - but that is not an option. The issue is the politics of self-destruction in the name of short term profit and the right to poison as many people as possible.

In that context, there is a Mindsay blog site on the web (shreckenangst) where the actions of politicians are judged against their enforcement of a doctrine labeled "The Most Harm to the Most People" - "Exposed" exposes in very readable terms the policies of governments which support, or refute, the Most Harm doctrine. Sadly, it is the United States which seems to bend over backwards to supports it; and the European Union which refutes it. The author describes these contrasting policies in terms of America insisting that third parties establish absolute proof of harm, while the EU relies on science indicating the potential for harm.

Under EU policies, if it can cause cancer, birth defects, infertility or any other problem - it is to be banned. The result is, companies which do business in both America and the EU set up factories accordingly - healthy ones for the EU, and poisonous ones for America. China has adopted the EU policies for itself and is now dumping toxins in America - while American companies, because they cannot meet the EU or Chinese environmental standards, cannot trade products with those nations. Example: American Cars fail Chinese EPA standards and so our auto industry is blocked from the worlds largest single population of potential buyers.

Read this book.

1. It is clearly a MUST READ for anyone who is not suicidal, and/or would prefer to see their children and grandchildren healthy - or at least as healthy as those in Europe.

2. It is clearly a MUST READ for anyone who remembers the time when America was the world's economic engine and leader - and would like to know why we are rapidly becomming a third world nation.

I heard him on NPR and immediately bought his book! I found out that the European Union has rules about safety for toys, makeup, etc. which our corporate-lobbyist-paid-off government lead by the Republican Administration refuses to incorporate into law protecting us. Why won't they protect American children? Because they say it is 'bad for business.' Simply stated this means parents of children in Slovenia and all other EU countries don't have to worry about lead in toys, because of the EU's strong inforcement of these laws, but American parents DO have to worry. So in short -- China DOES make toys which are safe, and they sell them to EU countries. Things the EU refuses to allow on their shelves gets sent back to China and ends up in America. Also Shapiro let's us know cosmetic companies make products without lead and other cancer causing chemicals to sell in the EU due to the EU's strict laws protecting their citizens, but those same companies continue to make products with these banned chemicals and sell them eagerly in America. What the heck is up with that?!! Obviously we mere citizens cannot expect businesses to DO THE RIGHT THING because they do it only when forced to by the EU, but won't follow those standards unless our government forces them to provide safe products for American consumers. My opinion: If congress and the government agencies who are supposed to protect us can't get it together -- let's follow all the EU restrictions and say -- "We'll have what they are having!" Thanks for putting this issue out there in such a clear manner, Mr. Shapiro. My fellow Americans, buy this book and throw out the bums in 2008!!!!!

I encourage everyone who lives in or plans to visit the United States to read this book so you can appreciate how dangerous the products are that companies deliver here . . . even though many provide much safer versions in Europe and other parts of the world. Why? Governments outside the U.S. respond more to citizen concerns about safety than they do to pressure from product suppliers to reduce regulation.

While some will see this as a Bush-bashing book, it seemed to me from reading Exposed that the prior Clinton administration didn't seem to do much better in safeguarding citizens from various toxic risks.

What's the story line? It's convoluted . . . which is why I graded the book down one star. Let me see if I can encapsulate the key points in a brief list:

1. Industry lobbyists have succeeded in persuading the U.S. government for a long time to not test many suspect items for toxicity, presuming that if it's in use . . . it's okay.

2. Independent scientists report that most of these items aren't okay.

3. The new European government is heeding citizen concerns about harmful substances and is requiring that they be eliminated from products and landfills. This means reformulating products if you are a global company and recycling hazardous materials.

4. Because the European economy is larger than the U.S., most global companies are complying in Europe. Some are choosing to make all products to the European standard, but many leading U.S. companies still make and sell toxic versions for the U.S. Some Chinese manufacturers are doing the same.

5. Many governments are about to adopt the European standards so that almost any other country will be a safer place to avoid toxins than the U.S.

6. The U.S. government is lobbying like crazy in Europe and elsewhere for its views, and annoying foreign governments even more than before.

7. The U.S. has little or no influence on world standards for product and environmental safety as a result.

The book suggests that the well documented problems of falling fertility in the U.S. are probably tied in some way to these unregulated toxins.

Are free markets always good for us? This article suggests otherwise when no one wants to speak up about poisons.