McKay Jenkins has earned a reputation for critically reviewing the advances and costs of our industrial world. In Poison Spring:The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA,1 he points out that political considerations induced conflicts of interest and results that adversely affect America today. His reports, if true, attack the credibility of the EPA and its recent programs.
In ContamiNation: My Quest to Survive in a Toxic World, Jenkins brings up many of the reports of adverse events associated with modern chemical technology and products.2 The first 200 pages are filled with word pairs such as “toxic chemical,” “dangerous chemical” and “recognized poison.” It seems nothing he addresses is benign. Worse, the newer the chemical or product, the more dangerous it appears to him. There is no balance.
My grandmother recanted growing up in a sod house in the Great Plains cooking with buffalo dung. Reverting to this is not my idea of the good life. Neither is living without the powerful medicines being developed. Chemistry has delivered a great advance in the standard of living, as witnessed by improved longevity, health and other evidence of gains in quality of life.
The author’s warnings on the dangers of chemicals fail to consider the effect of concentration. Many chemicals such as Cu++, Cr+++ and even H2O are needed for homeostasis. However, when exposure is outside certain limits, the results are deadly. But, overall, society is enjoying better and longer living through chemistry. Further, Jenkins fails to acknowledge the efforts that scientists are making to mitigate the risks. These include developing even more sensitive assays for dangerous pollutants, active site monitoring and changing synthesis procedures to reduce toxic risk. Jenkins’s unbalanced indictment implies that chemists ignore the risks. However, we are very aware and actively working to reduce them. Remember, we live on Earth too.
References
- https://www.americanlaboratory.com/Blog/171278-Book-Review-Poison-Spring-The-Secret-History-of-Pollution-and-the-EPA/
- Jenkins, M. ContamiNation: My Quest to Survive in a Toxic World; Penguin Random House: New York, N.Y.
Robert L. Stevenson, Ph.D., is Editor Emeritus, American Laboratory/Labcompare; e-mail: [email protected].
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