Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things |  | Authors: Rick Smith, Bruce Lourie
Publisher: Counterpoint
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $16.50
as of 7/30/2010 01:40 CDT details
New (10) Used (9) from $15.68
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 11,204
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 1582435677
Dewey Decimal Number: 615.902
EAN: 9781582435671
Publication Date: January 5, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Pollution is no longer just about belching smokestacks and ugly sewer pipes—now, it’s personal. The most dangerous pollution, it turns out, comes from commonplace items in our homes and workplaces. To prove this point, for one week authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie ingested and inhaled a host of things that surround all of us. Using their own bodies as the reference point to tell the story of pollution in our modern world, they expose the miscreant corporate giants who manufacture the toxins, the weak-kneed government officials who let it happen, and the effects on people and families across the globe. This book—the testimony of their experience—exposes the extent to which we are poisoned every day of our lives, from the simple household dust that is polluting our blood to the toxins in our urine that are created by run-of-the-mill shampoos and toothpaste. Ultimately hopeful, the book empowers readers with some simple ideas for protecting themselves and their families, and changing things for the better.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 The perfect baby shower gift July 20, 2010
leslie edwards, Fayetteville, GA
The book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck, is an eye opener about the dangers of the chemicals we encounter everyday. The authors spell out clearly how lobbyests for chemical companies actually promote fire retardants as beneficial to the safety of children when the reality is that the same chemicals have lasting negative effects on those who come in contact with them. It is all about profits and not about safety. They push for more regulation and more stringent flame retardant requirements from the government to increase the ways fire retardants are mandated. The number of people who are actually ever in a fire is miniscule compared to the dangers of the chemicals on babies,children and adults. Fire retardants are in children's clothes, furniture, carpets and more and are found in mother's breast milk. Putting fire retardant clothing on babies is like pouring chemicals on their little bodies. Some cotton clothes have fire retardants but there are cheical free clothes available.
The book also discusses non stick cookware and the dangers of Teflon. Safe cookware is stainless steel, copper and cast iron. Even if you don't use Teflon fry pans, the same chemical is used in a tremendous amount of food packaging, including the inside of microwave popcorn bags.
Harmful chemicals are found in toys, electronics, makeup, shampoo, food and more.
If you have noticed an increase in cancers among children and adults, the book makes a correlation between the increase and the use of chemicals that is hard to ignore. Some groups link breast cancer, prostrate cancer, autism and a host of other health issues to the use of harmful chemicals in every day products.
There are steps people can take to avoid as many chemicals as possible but unless the government stops the use of dangerous cheimicals in everyday products, they will continue to effect the health of citizens.
I recommend this book to everyone and especially new mothers to be. It is a great shower gift for an expectant mother although it could be awkward if other gifts obviously include dangerous chemicals. The information is so important but wholly ignored by the public and the government. It is possible that by spreading the word, to start an honest dialogue about the dangers of chemicals in everyday products.
Timely and disturbing July 6, 2010
Lee Lukaszewicz (New England)
This riveting report by Canadian environmentalists Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie is a wake-up call for all Americans, no matter where in North America you live, and for that matter, the world. It does and should leave you stunned. The premise of the book is self-experimentation, as Mr. Smith and Mr. Lourie offer themselves up as guinea pigs by exposing themselves to a host of common household products, everything from dish soap to personal care products to tuna fish, measuring blood and urine samples before, during and after exposure. Scary results are revealed.
The human body is a magnificent machine, one which we unwittingly mistreat with the tens of thousands of chemicals commonly in use at present. The body is forgiving to a certain degree. For example, a group of chemicals called phthalates is flushed from the system fairly quickly when exposure is reduced or eliminated. But what happens when exposure to a great multitude of chemicals is chronic and long term? What happens when our environment is saturated with them? Well, we know a lot, but new information is revealing an even more disturbing picture.
Pollution isn't just billowing from smokestacks anymore. It is in your home, in your house dust and your kids' toys, lining your canned goods and your popcorn bag, sprayed on your lawn, sofa and carpet, in your baby's plastic bottle. We are exposed to and bathing in this "toxic soup" everyday - we inhale it, we sit on it, we sleep with it, we cook with it, eat it and drink it. Everyday products expose us to chemicals that not only cause cancer, but are also suspected and in some cases proven to disrupt hormones, lead to insulin resistance, cause high cholesterol, neurological and reproductive disorders, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and even obesity. In some cases, especially with reproductive abnormalities, damage is seen across multiple generations.
Authors Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie have brought us an enlightening report that can help us rid ourselves of at least some of the toxins in our everyday environment. For example, we no longer apply weed-and-feed to our lawn, cook with Teflon, or use disposable plastic water bottles. We have switched from a vinyl shower curtain to cloth and avoid air fresheners. We pop our own popcorn, try to buy clothing made of natural fiber, and use scentless laundry detergent. The authors give many suggestions for making simple changes that can help rid your home of unnecessary chemicals.
Still, scariest of all, the authors expose in detail the inescapable saturation of the environment with persistant chemicals such as mercury, PCBs, and DDT. This book will open your eyes to what is in your environment, both at home and in the world. As scientists are becoming even more aware of the dangers of environmental toxins, new regulation has been successfully demanded, but with the strong resistance of big industry and slow government response, we still have a long way to go. This book will give you a place to start.
A Must Read for anyone concerned about their health June 6, 2010
Chad (California)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book contains a lot of information that every person should know, especially parents or parents to be. It's amazing the amount of dangerous chemicals in products we use everyday. The chemical companies will go to great lengths to hide the truth about the chemicals they are using. It's amazing what they can get away with. This book not only explains what products and chemicals to avoid, but also how large chemical companies are getting away with it. It's really not that hard to avoid most these chemicals, and this book explains exactly how to do that. A few simple changes can go a long way to improving your health and the health of your loved ones.
An eye opener! A Must Read! May 29, 2010
Eclectic Booklover (US)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Toxic chemicals are everywhere, but just how harmful are some of the products many of us use on a daily basis? Not sure you want to know?? You might want to skip this book and this review. The book is filled with interesting and easy to understand facts; it is addictive reading.
Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, environmental activists from Canada, deliberately exposed themselves to some of the chemicals many of us use. For one week, they inhaled, absorbed or ingested a variety of products, and closely monitored their exposure levels using blood and urine analysis; the results made me gasp! Some chemicals showed heavy exposure after just 2 days.
The authors point out that ther are roughly 82,000 chemicals in use in the United States, and each year some 700 new ones are added to the mix. Of these, only 650 are monitored, and even more shocking only (5) have been banned! Even asbestos, a known cancer causing agent, is not banned. Many cancers have been linked to chemical exposure. In 2009 there were 1.5 million new cancer cases expected, and because our bodies "absorb like sponges", this all seems to make perfect sense. It is also believed that many childhood epidemics are due to chemical exposure: asthma, ADHD, autism, and reproductive disorders. It is further believed that certain childhood exposures can lead to adult onset of neurological diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinson's Disease.
The author's chose (7) chemicals that most of us might likely be exposed to for their hands on research:
* radium - x-ray exposure
* mercury - certain seafoods
* PFCs - Teflon, key ingredient in coating some fry pans, some cosmetics, some clothing
* phthalates and triclosans - smelly scents added to certain shampoos and conditioners, antibacterials soaps as well as other personal care products, have been linked to birth defects, reproductive issues and cancer. some of the brand names mentioned shocked me)
* PCBs - flame retardants (Tris-Bp) used to treat some kids pajamas (thyroid issues)
* BPAs (plastics, perfluorochemicals) - dump those plastics and especially those plastic baby bottles
* DDT - pesticides (infants can be exposed through breast milk). Autism, ADHD, motor development impairment, reproductive defects and cancers
While it is not possible to completely avoid exposure to all chemicals, all the time, this book will help you to become better informed about the chemical dangers lurking close by. Many of the products, would be easy to eliminate. The book also includes a quick reference type list of things individuals can do remove hazardous products from your lives. In case you'd like to become more of an environmental activist, there is other info about how to get involved. I highly recommend this book. If not for you, for the health of your children and grandchildren and the environment.
READ this BOOK - 5/5 Stars
Wake up world! May 19, 2010
Terry J. Brown (Australia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The information in this book is brilliant and a must-read for anyone concerned about sneaky chemical bombardment. It may well save the world's health problems - if only governments would take responsibility and ban these deadly chemicals in our everyday items.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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