Despite President Bush's claims that we have "the best health care system in the world," nearly one of every three children in the United States struggles with some form of chronic disease. To those unfamiliar with the near-crisis situation faced by the country's youth, the roll call reads like a report from a Third World nation: with 2.5 million born with birth defects; 310,000 poisoned by lead; 6 million with asthma, and 12 million with developmental disorders like autism or attention deficit hyperactivity. Perhaps most disconcerting, childhood cancer has increased more than 67 percent from 1950 to 2001.
A case against the chemical industry
These are only a few of the hundreds of statistics cited by Philip and Alice Shabecoff, the intrepid husband-and-wife team behind "Poisoned Profits," a rightful attack on the chemical industry. "Disability, disease, and dysfunction among our nation's children," they write, "have reached epidemic proportions."
The Shabecoffs embark on a children's crusade of sorts, sharpening much of the evidence turned up in Nena Baker's recent "The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-being." Both books lament the woefully inadequate measures established by the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, but the Shabecoffs continually emphasize the greater risks posed to children, who are more susceptible to the agents in thousands of chemicals not sufficiently regulated by the government. "The real-world result," they say, "has been pernicious, motivating industry to protect existing products rather than innovate to find safer ones."
Structured like a criminal trial, "Poisoned Profits" proceeds methodically and patiently, building a formidable case. I found it difficult to argue with the avalanche of numbers provided by the authors, who share an extensive background in environmental issues - Philip as the former chief environmental correspondent for The New York Times, Alice as the executive director of the National Consumers League.
Their expertise informs every exhaustively researched sentence.
Ultimately, the cumulative effect of so many statistics and case studies - many of which are heartbreaking - is numbing, but the book is not just one long complaint. Instead, it is a well-reasoned plea for change. Check out the lengthy and helpful appendices, which provide plenty of actionable items and dozens of resources that can help effect that change.
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