Toxic safety : flame retardants, chemical controversies, and environmental health / Dr. Alissa Cordner ; cover design, Diane Lugar.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Initially marketed as a life-saving advancement, flame retardants are now mired in controversy. Some argue that data show the chemicals are unsafe while others continue to support their use. The tactics of each side have far-reaching consequences for how we interpret new scientific discoveries.

An experienced environmental sociologist, Alissa Cordner conducts more than a hundred interviews with activists, scientists, regulators, and industry professionals to isolate the social, scientific, economic, and political forces influencing environmental health policy today. Introducing "strategic science translation," she describes how stakeholders use scientific evidence to support nonscientific goals and construct "conceptual risk formulas" to shape risk assessment and the interpretation of empirical evidence. A revelatory text for public-health advocates, Toxic Safety demonstrates that while all parties interested in health issues use science to support their claims, they do not compete on a level playing field and even good intentions can have deleterious effects.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Toxic Safety describes US systems, agencies, policies, practices, and vested interests involved in testing, regulating, and registering toxic chemicals. The author use polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame retardant chemicals, as a detailed case study. The current approach the US uses to determine which chemicals are considered harmless, or "innocent until proven guilty," is juxtaposed against a "precautionary approach" requiring a preliminary demonstration of safety. The book's chapters discuss topics surrounding environmental health, flame retardants, safety, advocacy, justice, and other political implications. Overall, the scales are tipped toward the chemical industry rather than public health and the scientists who defend it. This book blasts the myth that US industry is overregulated and demonstrates that the public is under protected. Industry creates roadblocks and funds misinformation based on scant, faulty, and even fraudulent "data." Many others have told the same narratives regarding lead, asbestos, mercury, and solvents in pesticides, but this book provides greater detail regarding the challenges that regulators face. This is an important, well-documented, and well-told account. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Michael Gochfeld, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School