Tuesday
Jun232009
Book Review: Slow Death by Rubber Duck (by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
With fear and interest I picked up a copy of this book on a lovely visit to Chapters in Toronto with my friends Sam from babyREADY and Lindsay from Kickypants.
The byline for the book Slow Death by Rubber Duck is "how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health". The book systematically introduces, discusses and analyzes the impact of a variety of chemicals that are far too common in our lives, including:
Each chapter includes a combination of stories about the everyday use of these products, scientific data and studies on actual environmental and human impacts, and first-hand tests that were carried out by the researchers to see if/how they could increase and decrease their own levels of these chemicals doing everyday things using everyday products.
The book provides a really great mix of sources on the impact of each of the chemicals that is discussed. It includes examples of the way that we are confronted with theses chemicals every day. It provides stories about the methods that industry uses to try to convince people of the safety of these chemicals or to hide the dangers of them. It references studies and cases where these chemicals have presented a real danger to human health. It gives first hand evidence from the authors experimenting on themselves of how the regular use of everyday products that contain these chemicals can lead to alarming levels of these products in our systems. This unique mixture of different sources and different approaches makes for a very compelling argument.
It scared me to death!
But beyond that, I wished that there had been more data from people other than the two authors. I wish that they had recruited more volunteers and done the experiments on more people to get a larger sample. I would have liked to have seen more information from the other people whose blood they tested (they tested the blood of people including many Canadian politicians).
I also wish the section on solutions had been more detailed. However, they do provide numerous additional resources that people can go to in order to get that information.
Buy this, borrow this, or take it out of the library. This is a must read eye opener. As Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau is quoted saying on the back of the book: "What could be more alarming than the toxic chemicals absorbed by our bodies every day? Our willful ignorance on the matter. Slow Death by Rubber Duck is a call to action for both governments and all Canadian citizens, but especially for us mothers, who are necessary for real social change".
Buy the book from Amazon.com or from Amazon.ca.
I hope to write more about this book, what I learned, what I'm changing and how it is scaring me in the weeks to come.
Note: I know a lot of people in the United States want to get a hold of a copy of this book and have been having trouble doing so. You can try to get one from a third-party seller by clicking this link to the book's Amazon.com page. I paid CDN $32.00 plus taxes in store, so if you find the book for between US$30 and US$40 that is probably a fair price. Another place you can try is on the buy the book page on the Slow Death By Rubber Duck website. It provides a few other options for getting the book, which appear to only be available to Canadians, but perhaps they will add American options over time.
Overview
The byline for the book Slow Death by Rubber Duck is "how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health". The book systematically introduces, discusses and analyzes the impact of a variety of chemicals that are far too common in our lives, including:- phthalates
- Teflon (PFCs or perfluourinated compounds)
- polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) or flame retardants
- mercury
- triclosan ("antibacterial")
- pesticides
- bisphenol A (BPA)
Each chapter includes a combination of stories about the everyday use of these products, scientific data and studies on actual environmental and human impacts, and first-hand tests that were carried out by the researchers to see if/how they could increase and decrease their own levels of these chemicals doing everyday things using everyday products.
What I Liked About this Book
The book provides a really great mix of sources on the impact of each of the chemicals that is discussed. It includes examples of the way that we are confronted with theses chemicals every day. It provides stories about the methods that industry uses to try to convince people of the safety of these chemicals or to hide the dangers of them. It references studies and cases where these chemicals have presented a real danger to human health. It gives first hand evidence from the authors experimenting on themselves of how the regular use of everyday products that contain these chemicals can lead to alarming levels of these products in our systems. This unique mixture of different sources and different approaches makes for a very compelling argument.
What I Didn't Like About This Book
It scared me to death!
But beyond that, I wished that there had been more data from people other than the two authors. I wish that they had recruited more volunteers and done the experiments on more people to get a larger sample. I would have liked to have seen more information from the other people whose blood they tested (they tested the blood of people including many Canadian politicians).
I also wish the section on solutions had been more detailed. However, they do provide numerous additional resources that people can go to in order to get that information.
Recommendation
Buy this, borrow this, or take it out of the library. This is a must read eye opener. As Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau is quoted saying on the back of the book: "What could be more alarming than the toxic chemicals absorbed by our bodies every day? Our willful ignorance on the matter. Slow Death by Rubber Duck is a call to action for both governments and all Canadian citizens, but especially for us mothers, who are necessary for real social change".
Buy the book from Amazon.com or from Amazon.ca.
I hope to write more about this book, what I learned, what I'm changing and how it is scaring me in the weeks to come.
Note: I know a lot of people in the United States want to get a hold of a copy of this book and have been having trouble doing so. You can try to get one from a third-party seller by clicking this link to the book's Amazon.com page. I paid CDN $32.00 plus taxes in store, so if you find the book for between US$30 and US$40 that is probably a fair price. Another place you can try is on the buy the book page on the Slow Death By Rubber Duck website. It provides a few other options for getting the book, which appear to only be available to Canadians, but perhaps they will add American options over time.
Reader Comments (4)
I keep telling people to get rid of those damned teflon-coated frying pans and get a cast iron or stainless steel pan! It may be old-fashioned, but I'm willing to bet there are a lot less chemicals in my body due to the choices I make in cookware.
Love your blog!
Thanks for the review. Hubby and I were just discussing getting this. We've done away with teflon, look at for shampoos/soaps/makeup that doesn't have certain chemicals/parabens etc. but it's really hard. We have plastic toys, non-organic clothes/sheets etc.
But, small steps do make a difference we hope.
I put this book on my list a while ago, but I'm sort of afraid to read it. I want to sleep at night, you know? Perhaps I'll buy it together with a trashy novel so that when I get too depressed I'll have something to lighten the mood.
[...] PhD in Parenting posted a review of Slow Death by Rubber Duck, a book high on my reading list, and one that should probably be required reading for parents. [...]