Toxic Truth: A Scientist, a Doctor, and the Battle Over Lead

By Lydia Denworth

Book Overview

They didn't start out as environmental warriors. Clair Patterson was a geochemist focused on determining the age of the Earth. Herbert Needleman was a pediatrician treating inner-city children. But in the chemistry lab and the hospital ward, they met a common enemy- lead. It was literally everywhere-in gasoline and paint, of course, but also in water pipes and food cans, toothpaste tubes and toys, ceramics and cosmetics, jewelry and batteries. Though few people worried about it at the time, lead was also toxic. In Toxic Truth , journalist Lydia Denworth tells the little-known stories of these two men who were among the first to question the wisdom of filling the world with such a harmful metal. Denworth follows them from the ice and snow of Antarctica to the schoolyards of Philadelphia and Boston as they uncovered the enormity of the problem and demonstrated the irreparable harm lead was doing to children. In heated conferences and courtrooms, the halls of Congress and at the Environmental Protection Agency, the scientist and doctor were forced to defend their careers and reputations in the face of incredible industry opposition. It took courage, passion, and determination to prevail against entrenched corporate interests and politicized government bureaucracies. But Patterson, Needleman, and their allies did finally get the lead out - since it was removed from gasoline, paint, and food cans in the 1970s, the level of lead in Americans' bodies has dropped 90 percent. Their success offers a lesson in the dangers of putting economic priorities over public health, and a reminder of the way science-and individuals-can change the world. The fundamental questions raised by this battle-what constitutes disease, how to measure scientific independence, and how to quantify acceptable risk-echo in every environmental issue of today- from the plastic used to make water bottles to greenhouse gas emissions. And the most basic question-how much do we need to know about what we put in our environment-is perhaps more relevant today than it has ever been.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807000337
• ISBN13: 9780807000335
• Release Date: July 2018
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Historical to Current Review of the Dangers of Lead

A must read for anyone who cares about children and the environment. This book will bring out the inner cynic because of all the politics and severe tactics used to keep lead in gasoline, paint, and other products in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is dangerous and worse accumulative. It definitely reduces the IQ of children. Lead is everywhere and is still poisoning children especially in inner cities but the suburbs and country kids do not escape either. Maybe schools with low test scores should have a random sample of their children tested for lead (reduces IQ) instead of instantly blaming the parents or teachers as all options should be explored as to why our schools are failing. Romans used it to line their wine casks and water pipes and it is suggested by some this helped bring down their civilization. One study in 1972 (page 90) using rats fed lead showed the normally nocturnal rats completely hyperactive during the day. Very unusual. Silbergold then gave these lead fed now hyperactive rats Ritalin and "saw the same effects that pediatricians saw in children." "My control animals (no lead) with Ritalin became hyper, the hyper animals (fed lead) calmed down immediately." Rats aren't children but this result is fascinating and horrifying.

science, medicine, big business, and little children

What a story! Two individuals, one a scientist and the other a doctor, simultaneously yet independently take on big business and save the lives of who knows how many. What I found perhaps most fascinating was the alert, creative thinking that led them to suspect that lead might be poisoning our environment in the first place and the dogged process of trial and error they followed to prove it. Inspiring.

Davids v Goliath

Denworth's report on the exposure of the lead industry due to the dedicated work of Needleman & Patterson packs a punch. The story of the little guys overcoming all the odds in their fight against a powerful industry is a testament to perservance, ethics and humanity. This expose of the cozy relationship between scientific research, commercial interests and government continues to have relevance and merits serious consideration.

Fascinating Story of an Environmental and Public Health Victory

Toxic Truth continues in the fine tradition of other important and groundbreaking "public health mysteries" as Johnson's "Ghost Map", Barry's "The Great Influenza" and Shilts's "And the Band Played On" to tell the tragic story of lead poisoning in America. While the two heroes of Toxic Truth emerge in the persons of geochemist Clair Patterson and pediatrician Herbert Needleman, the third hero of the story is clearly science itself. Throughout the book, and especially at times when both Patterson's and Needleman's quarrelsome personalities become problematic, it is good science that asserts itself and ultimately wins the day. The author's background as a journalist is much appreciated by the reader in her ability to provide balanced portraits, not just of her heroes, but also of those scientists who often went toe-to-toe with Patterson and Needleman. Lesser books in this genre are often so lopsided in how they fawn over their chosen luminary and dismissive of their chosen villain that one is left to wonder whether the writer is playing straight with the facts. Fortunately, there is no such concern with Toxic Truth. The book's central thesis is greatly strengthened by the fair treatment of its many subjects not weakened. For readers curious about the nexus of science, government, public health, and monied-interests, Toxic Truth is the best new book on the market and is much recommended.

Who Knew Lead Was So Interesting

Fascinating and incredibly well written, interesting both for the story it tells about lead and also as a template for the many battles that are waged between between what is best for our children and ourselves and what happens when they are at odds with political and economic agendas. It is also inspiring in tracing how individuals who set their minds to it can make a huge difference in the world we live in.