Bruce E. Johansen

The Dirty Dozen (eBook, PDF)

Toxic Chemicals and the Earth's Future

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Forty years after the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, this important study examines the history, industrial uses, and harmful effects of the twelve most commonly used organochloride chemicals. All have been fully or partially banned by the Stockholm Protocol, an international treaty signed by about 120 countries in December 2000. Among the twelve are the dioxins (the active ingredient in Agent Orange) and polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs), which are toxic in minute quantities. Johansen pays special attention to the Inuit of the Arctic, where these chemicals have been bio-accumulating to dangerous levels, moving up the food chain to a degree of toxicity that some Inuit mothers are no longer able to safely breast-feed their infants. The polar stratospheric ozone has been devastated by emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and new scientific findings connect global warming near the Earth's surface to significant cooling in the stratosphere. This synergy aggravates ozone depletion because the chemical reactions that destroy the ozone become more energetic as temperatures drop. Synthetic toxins have taken their toll on minority ethnic groups in the United States, and persistent organic pollutants have inflicted physiological damage on humans and other animals. Finally, Johansen explores the estrogenic effects of such chemicals. Sperm counts have declined as much as 50% in 50 years.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 312
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. Juni 2003
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780313057199
• Artikelnr.: 68528535

Autorenporträt

Bruce E. Johansen is Frederick W. Kayser Professor of Communication and Native American Studies, University of Nebraska. He is the author of dozens of books, including The Dirty Dozen: Toxic Chemicals and the Earth's Future, The Global Warming Desk Reference, and The Native Peoples of North America. He is series editor of Praeger's Native America: Yesterday and Today.

Inhaltsangabe

CONTENTSCONTENTS ContentsPreface viiIntroduction 11. Persistent Organic
Pollutants: The Basics 112. "We Feel like an Endangered Species": Toxics in
the Arctic 473. CFCs, Global Warming, and Ozone Depletion 774. The Chemical
Industry, Nonwhite Communities, and the Third World 1075. Belugas with
Tumors: The Toxic Toll on Animals 1336. End of the Line: The Dirty Dozen
and Human Health 1657. Toxic Barbie? Not Your Great-Grandmother's Estrogen
1998. Solutions: Public Policy Issues 229Glossary 249Selected Bibliography
253Index 291