Steingraber, S. (2010). Living downstream: An ecologist’s personal investigation of cancer and the environment (2nd ed.). Da Capo Press.
Sandra Steingraber is an American activist, biologist, author, senior scientist, and cancer survivor. She was born in 1959 in Tazewell Country, Illinois, United States.
Part memoir, part research, Steingraber blends stories and data from scientific and medical literature to tell a story about industrial and agricultural pollution specifically the relationship between environmental factors and cancer. Her thesis: "The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment." Many sobering statistics, one in particular was how the acceleration of global toxicity is largely an outcome of the "rapid birthrate of petrochemicals [which] began in 1945". Steingraber found that "by 1976, 62000 synthetic chemicals were in commercial use." Toxicity related to these chemicals is recorded in air, water, the earth, animals, and humans. She critiques what the scientific community constitutes as "evidence" which provides a useful rationale for negating the problem. She said, "the uncertainty over details is being used to call into doubt the fact that profound connections do exist between human health and the environment.. . . uncertainty is too often parlayed into an excuse to do nothing until more research can be conducted."
This would be a good read for people interested in the health patterns, agriculture, water safety, environment and ecology, and Illinois history. It would also be a good conversation starter for thinking about epistemology including what constitutes evidence and research.
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About the author
Environmental Destruction and Cancer
Steingraber, S. (2010). Living downstream: An ecologist’s personal investigation of cancer and the environment (2nd ed.). Da Capo Press. Sandra Steingraber is an American activist, biologist, author, senior scientist, and cancer survivor. She was born in 1959 in Tazewell Country, Illinois, United States. Part memoir, part research, Steingraber blends stories and data from scientific and medical literature to tell a story about industrial and agricultural pollution specifically the relationship between environmental factors and cancer. Her thesis: "The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment." Many sobering statistics, one in particular was how the acceleration of global toxicity is largely an outcome of the "rapid birthrate of petrochemicals [which] began in 1945". Steingraber found that "by 1976, 62000 synthetic chemicals were in commercial use." Toxicity related to these chemicals is recorded in air, water, the earth, animals, and humans. She critiques what the scientific community constitutes as "evidence" which provides a useful rationale for negating the problem. She said, "the uncertainty over details is being used to call into doubt the fact that profound connections do exist between human health and the environment.. . . uncertainty is too often parlayed into an excuse to do nothing until more research can be conducted." This would be a good read for people interested in the health patterns, agriculture, water safety, environment and ecology, and Illinois history. It would also be a good conversation starter for thinking about epistemology including what constitutes evidence and research.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Steingraber, S. (2010). Living downstream: An ecologist’s personal investigation of cancer and the environment (2nd ed.). Da Capo Press.
Environmental Destruction and Cancer
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024
Sandra Steingraber is an American activist, biologist, author, senior scientist, and cancer survivor. She was born in 1959 in Tazewell Country, Illinois, United States.
Part memoir, part research, Steingraber blends stories and data from scientific and medical literature to tell a story about industrial and agricultural pollution specifically the relationship between environmental factors and cancer. Her thesis: "The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment." Many sobering statistics, one in particular was how the acceleration of global toxicity is largely an outcome of the "rapid birthrate of petrochemicals [which] began in 1945". Steingraber found that "by 1976, 62000 synthetic chemicals were in commercial use." Toxicity related to these chemicals is recorded in air, water, the earth, animals, and humans. She critiques what the scientific community constitutes as "evidence" which provides a useful rationale for negating the problem. She said, "the uncertainty over details is being used to call into doubt the fact that profound connections do exist between human health and the environment.. . . uncertainty is too often parlayed into an excuse to do nothing until more research can be conducted."
This would be a good read for people interested in the health patterns, agriculture, water safety, environment and ecology, and Illinois history. It would also be a good conversation starter for thinking about epistemology including what constitutes evidence and research.
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2011
Top reviews from other countries
- P. StavrisReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2012
Sobering and compulsory reading
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - H J BuildersReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2015
Four Stars
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
