Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe more things change, the more they stay the same.
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2018
I'm only halfway through the book - I'd read it in one setting, but I'm trying to process it all! The author starts with isolated cases of "infantile poliomyelitis" 'way back in the early 1800's, where it was blamed on "teething." (What did children have for teething medication? Mercury-based concoctions. It is hard for us to believe in this day and age... no, wait, I've got 7 mercury-laden fillings in my mouth right now.)
As farmers & communities began to spray first arsenic-based "Paris Green" in the late 1800s to control insects, and then lead arsenate (lead & arsenic mixed together), more cases of paralysis and poisoning appeared, but with no detectable source of "infection." When the public began to question possible toxicity from pesticides, they were shouted down and mocked - but not challenged with actual scientific data, as far as I can tell so far in the book. From the book:
"Reports of children killed by arsenic poisoning began to surface, and authorities - who had worked tirelessly to enforce the mandatory application of pesticides - blamed the deaths on improper spraying techniques by reckless farmers."
Reading the accounts of baffled doctors and public health authorities has me shaking my head in astonishment and saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Very engagingly written, and HARD to put down! I'll update when I'm done with the book.
