ContamiNation: My Quest to Survive in a Toxic World

There aren't many books that I give 5 stars to, but this book is one of them. Its scary and amazing at the same time. It's scary to think that the things we think are harmless can kill you. If you are thinking about getting this book. Do it, you won't regret it. It's going to make you have a range of emotions. Mostly it made me angry to think that products that we interact with daily have the potential to kill you. It shines a light on what's wrong with this world. Make a product with killer ingredients for a cheaper price. How can we let this happen?

I enjoyed listening to this. learned so many things.

It was just the routine two year checkup with his internist for college professor, family man and author McKay Jenkins, but who had a few questions about certain sensitivities in his lower left leg. A referral to an orthopedist's office revealed something quite unexpected: A mass was growing inside Jenkins' left hip. An MRI was evaluated by an oncologist and a subsequent surgery resulted in the removal of an orange-sized tumor. It was benign, but what was the cause? And thus begins the journey into the murky world of contamination by McKay Jenkins. The Prologue manuscript is so filled with material and information that chapter discussions seem unnecessary and unproductive as to any review. The Prologue is twenty two pages of revelatory concerns and trends that surround and permeate the manufacturing and production procedures during the processing, transportation and distribution of commercial and consumer goods. Somewhere in all of this are an estimated 80,000 chemicals, not safety tested, countless tons of petrochemicals, plastics, pesticides, and herbacides, synthetic fertilizers, ammonias, asbestos, flame retardants ,benzene, mercury, lead, endocrine disruptors, ethylene, fungicides.... Let us move on. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is "a toilet bowl that never flushes" and has 100 million tons of debris off the coasts of Asia and western U.S. estimated to contain 5.5 quadrillion plastic pellets. It is a behemoth the size of Africa. Fish consume these pellets and people consume the fish. Continuing...Construction materials found in every home contain synthetic chemicals; every stream in America contains pharmaceuticals and oral contraceptives; in 2007, a toxic synthetic (melamine) imported from China killed four thousand dogs and cats. Some final notes. Petrochemicals and breast cancers- have been found in beluga whales; PCBs (banned for thirty years) are found in snow high in the Andes; flame retardants are in the blubber of seals far above the Arctic Circle. Recently a small diversified group of rural Maine residents participated in a public health study regarding the magnitude of toxic chemical contamination in non-urban environs. One in the group, an organic farmer, had lost ten friends to cancer and three other friends have been similiary diagnosed. Flame retardants, phthalates, Teflon, mercury, arsenic, lead, Scotchgard, bisphenol, and insecticides were all toxins found in test results among the study participants. Former subdued childhood diseases, autism and asthma, are now epidemic.

A must read!!! This book is an eye opener.

Was received in excellent condition. Book is very informative for all.

Very interesting opens your eyes and some products

Very informative. Will read some parts again.

Chongyean Cheang CHE 372B ContamiNation: My Quest to Survive in a Toxic World Amazon Review Prof. Levy 25/03/2018 People are being exposed to toxins even before they are born. "If babies are exposed in the womb or shortly after birth to chemicals that interfere with brain development the consequences last a lifetime" (Jenkins 2016). How do you take control of how much you are exposed to chemicals and dangerous toxins in this world when you do not know where they come from? A few years ago, journalism professor McKay Jenkins wrote the book ContamiNation "My Quest to Survive in a Toxic World" after he found out he had a tumor the size of a navel orange in his abdomen. It was confusing because he thought he was a healthy man with a clean diet and regular exercise. Jenkins had unknowingly been spending his whole life living by dangerous toxins. He wrote this book to all general readers such as citizens, teachers, and scientists for the purpose of giving them a better understanding and revealing the results and risks associated with how much people are exposed to chemicals and dangerous toxins that people may or may not notice in their surrounding environment. Jenkins begins the chapter "The body" by explaining that our body is already full of toxic chemicals. The truth is that the accumulation of toxins has been growing in our bodies since we were in our mother's wombs. The author continues to demonstrate how ubiquitous synthetic chemicals have ended up in human bodies by using the results of interviews, scientific reports and experimental studies on how synthetic chemicals effect humans and all life forms on earth. "Synthetic chemicals, it turns out, circle the globe like the winds" (Jenkins 2016). Thirteen people in Maine had participated in a study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Southern Maine purposing to bring attention to how much people are exposed to toxic chemicals. Most of these people have been living a healthy life and none of them had lived in major cities or worked in heavy industry. Surprisingly, each person in the study harbored 36 different toxic chemicals in their bodies such as lead, mercury, arsenic and bisphenol. According to the author, people in Maine are being polluted with a dozen toxic chemicals and not even the doctors leading the study can explain why particular compounds are found in their bodies or how they were exposed. In chapter two, entitled "The Home", the author purposely describes step by step the different types of synthetic chemicals that were contained in his house such as those from cosmetics, shampoos, ceilings, floors, furniture, the basement, the wall, and the kitchen. To do this, he hired toxicologist and environmental engineer Albert Donnay to inspect his house for the purpose of demonstrating to the audience that they should open their eyes and learn about the ubiquity of potential hazards in consumer goods at home. "That couch-the one you paid extra for because it does not stain? Toss it. That air freshener that makes the bathrooms smell like a spring glade? Throw it away."(Jenkins 2016) The author continues to describe how plywood sheathing and cabinetry are glued together with formaldehyde; also, fiberglass insulation, paints, stains, and caulks on the floors, walls, and ceilings stay there for a long time and can circulate chemicals in the air eventually getting them into clothes, skin, and lungs. A person's home, like a person's skin, may provide a thin membrane that protects us from environmental toxins. But how much protection can the home, offer us when our walls themselves are so saturated with toxic chemicals?" Jenkins asked. People have become so comfortable as they are being exposed to many chemicals. Some chemicals show an immediate effect and other chemicals build up in the body and people don't notice until serious illnesses appear. "We all are accumulating these chemicals so much that we can no longer define what is a normal, unaltered human physiology" (Jenkins 2016). Moving to the big box store chapter, Jenkins intends to give the readers the message that almost every item in typical American stores such as the paints, baby bottles, toys, food, cosmetics, and personal care have been manufactured from a mix of synthetic chemicals. Some are labeled with information about dangerous chemicals and some are not. There are several examples that the author gives from one section of the store to another section of the store. In the hardware section, Jenkins describes the caulks labeled with ethylene glycol, formaldehyde, ammonia and acetaldehyde that may cause kidney and liver effects. The aerosolized chemicals contain an ant killer spray and can enter the lungs and skin. The paints contain crystalline silica which has shown to cause lung damage and cancer. "What we do not think about, at least too deeply, is what goes into the stuff we spread all over our walls and ceilings" (Jenkins 2016). Furthermore, the author digs into details on specific chemicals. First, he discusses the lead paint and phthalates on toys imported from China. Second, the mercury in fish. Third, bisphenol in water plastic bottles and cans used for vegetables and apple juice containers. Fourth, kid pajamas contain flame retardant that can block the movement of thyroid hormones, damage reproductive systems, kidneys, the immune system, and the developing brain. Regarding all these problems, in many incidents, there is neither enough government research to justify banning products nor interest by the chemical companies to make products safer. "Lead-paint convinced Congress to allow large toy makers to test their products, rather than submitting them to independent labs" (Jenkins 2016). The next two chapters, "The Tap" and "The Lawn," give an important message to ordinary citizens that all our surroundings are contaminated with synthetic chemicals including the water, air, and grass. Jenkins mentions "There is the same amount of water on the earth today as there was ten thousand years ago. It is just more polluted" (Jenkins 2016). About 97 percent of the rivers are contaminated with at least one pesticide, Jenkins reports. Compounds like DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) chlordane, Aldrin, and Dieldrin have been acknowledged as dangerous chemicals and are still being found in fish. Furthermore, every stream in America contains pharmaceuticals and oral contraceptive. "More than 18 million people in southern California drink water contaminated with anti-anxiety medications," (Jenkins 2016). Jenkins also acknowledges that the federal government does not require testing for pharmaceuticals in drinking water, and this is an issue. In the chapter about "The lawn", Jenkins discusses how 2,4-D, or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, developed during World War II as a weapon to destroy the enemy's rice crops, have been commonly used for spraying the lawn. 2,4-D is a systemic herbicide which selectively kills most broadleaf weed but leaves most grasses unaffected. It helps the garden stay green and beautiful as people want it to be. 2,4-D has been shown to disrupt human hormones and cause genetic mutations because it is designed to mimic a plant's natural growth hormone. Because of this, the garden, the playgrounds, and "the national landscape that Americans imagine being a great wilderness has turned to a source of synthetic chemicals" says Jenkins. In the last chapter, "What's next", Jenkins admits that in many cases there simply are no alternative products available, so the only thing that we can do is to stop using something altogether. We all need to learn not to take the risk of using a product that we do not understand. "If a college student can't tell you what river or reservoir his tap water comes from, why would he ever stop to think about all the toxins that water might be collecting on its way to his tap?" The purpose of this book was to cause the audience to start thinking of where and how harmful synthetic chemicals end up in our bodies and find alternative ways to stop this. The author introduces the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards that EPA has been handing out to companies that invent environmentally products. So, there are alternative ways to make the earth better and eliminate the synthetic chemicals that Jenkins discussed from the first chapter of the book to the end. To conclude, McKay Jenkins deserves credit for critically reviewing the advances and costs of our manufacturing world. I would recommend this book to everyone who has interests in revealing the truth on how much they are exposed to toxic chemicals. This book is categorized under medicine, science, and environmental studies. This book provides a starting point for us to realize what is harmful to us and how the world is contaminated with chemicals. Next, the book helps to figure out what dangerous products we need to get rid of and what safe products to buy by illustrating these in the Big Box Store chapter. After acknowledging those toxic chemicals impact our life, Jenkins points out some thoughts about the federal government's oversights on things and that the public needs to push the government to impose more robust regulation on manufactures and industries. However, after finishing the book Jenkins fails to acknowledge how much it matters that scientists be aware of the risks. The author introduces many critical problems with synthetic chemicals but fails to give much alternative solutions to the readers. Personally, Jenkins brings out so many issues relating to our environment and leaves me some unanswered questions.