Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy - Hardcover

Thornton, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262201240 ISBN 13: 9780262201247

Publisher: Mit Pr, 2000

Synopsis

Pandora's Poison presents a solution to one of the most insidious environmentalproblems of our time: the global build-up of toxic chemicals. Everywhere on the planet, hundreds ofindustrial chemicals called organochlorines are accumulating in the environment, the food supply,and our bodies. These substances--such infamous pollutants as dioxins, PCBs, and DDT, along withthousands of lesser-known hazards--are produced when chlorine gas is used to make plastics, paper,pesticides, and many industrial chemicals. In a thorough and accessible analysis, biologist JoeThornton shows how global organochlorine pollution is already contributing to infertility, immunesuppression, cancer, and developmental disorders in humans and wildlife.Thornton proposes a majorshift in environmental science and policy. He shows that the current framework radicallyoverestimates the ability of science and technology to address the complex global hazards ofchemical mixtures. And he reveals how the "sound science" that dominates environmental regulationsdisguises political biases that protect polluters and gamble with public health.Articulatingprinciples for a new environmental strategy, Thornton shows that the only practical solution is totake global action on broad classes of hazardous chemicals and the processes that produce them,starting with organochlorines. He lays out a democratically controlled program to replace theproduction and use of chlorine gas and its derivatives with safer, effective, and economicallyfeasible alternatives, which are already available for the majority of chlorine uses. With aninnovative interdisiciplinary approach, Pandora's Poison promises to revolutionize the debate overpollution, health, and the role of science in public policy.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Linder is Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at Syracuse University.

Reviews

In what may become a landmark book in environmental policy, Thornton articulates a new strategy for eradicating one of the world's most pervasive and dangerous pollutants: organochlorines. Produced from chlorine gas in making plastics, papers, pesticides and other industrial chemicals, organochlorines--like DDT, PCBs and dioxins--now contaminate absolutely every inch of the planet, according to the author, from freshwater fish and polar ice caps to the tissues and milk of the general human population. In this lucid study, Thornton, a research fellow at Columbia University and a former research coordinator for Greenpeace, explains how organochlorines have come to dominate virtually all official and unofficial lists of toxic pollutants, and outlines how industries can replace chlorine gas with safer, economically feasible alternatives. Just as important, he proposes a new strategy for dealing with environmental threats; as his "Ecological Paradigm" shifts the focus from individual chemicals to broad classes of hazardous substances and the industries that produce them, it also emphasizes clean production over pollution control. In so doing, the paradigm recognizes the complexity of natural systems, the limitations of science to predict and diagnose the effects of pollution and the inability of quick technological fixes to prevent the continuing buildup of these compounds around the world. Thornton wisely moves the detailed, scientific support for his arguments to references and a back section of notes, turning the body of his book into a compelling essay that identifies a critical problem, pinpoints its causes and outlines a practicable solution. 21 illus. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Expect controversy over this argument for major change in the way we regulate manufactured substances and, as a first step, gradual phaseout of virtually all organochlorines. Thornton, a former Greenpeace scientist, describes the "global health hazard" organochlorines represent; suggests that adding chlorine to organic substances is intrinsically dangerous because the substances it produces are more toxic, fat soluble, persistent, reactive, and/or bioaccumulative; and outlines how a "chlorine sunset" could be implemented. The "risk paradigm" that now governs environmental regulation, Thornton argues, is inadequate because its focus on individual pollutants "cannot effectively address the subtle, long-term, global hazards" caused by mixtures of chemicals. He proposes an alternative "environmental paradigm," which analyzes broad classes of hazardous substances and the technologies that produce them based on three principles: "zero discharge," "clean production," and requiring producers (such as drug manufacturers) to demonstrate that their products are safe. An accessible argument, with more demanding scientific details relegated to the notes, references, and appendixes. Mary Carroll

The worldwide accumulation of chlorinated organic substances, known as organochlorines, are linked to cancer, immune suppression, infertility, and developmental disorders in humans and severe reproductive, developmental, and immunological impairment in wildlife. Organochlorines originate from the production, use, and disposal of chlorine compounds in chemicals, plastics, paper, metallurgy, water treatment, and other industries. Thornton, a biologist and research fellow at Columbia University's Center for Environmental Research and Conservation and a former research coordinator for Greenpeace, describes the global health hazards posed by organochlorines, the causes and dangers of worldwide organochlorine contamination, and some scientific, political, and societal solutions to implement before it is too late. He presents a "risk paradigm" claiming that current strategies for managing, investigating, and disposing of organochlorines have failed. Thornton offers a safer and environmentally sound alternative based upon the principle of "clean production" using chlorine-free technologies. An eye-opener; recommended for all collections.
-Irwin Weintraub, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262201240
• ISBN 13: 9780262201247
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 611