Jenkins has written “a Silent Spring for the human body” — Richard Preston, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Hot Zone. In the past few years, scientists have become increasingly worried about the growing presence of synthetic chemicals in our bodies, and in our environment — and the connection these chemicals may have to cancer, hormonal imbalances, and many other diseases. These are not just the toxins leaking out of industrial dumps — they are the chemicals leaking into us from the products we use every day: from cosmetics, cookware, and the fabric in our upholstery; from pharmaceuticals in our drinking water and the pesticides we spray on our lawns.
I learned this the hard way. A few years ago, I discovered a surprise in my abdomen: a tumor the size of a baseball. An hour before I was to enter the operating room, researchers asked if I had ever been exposed to toxic chemicals. In my life, I asked? This seemed like an odd question. What kind of chemicals do you mean? The researchers began reading from a list, which turned out to be very long. Some things I had heard of, many others I had not. Formaldehyde? Weed killers? Glues? Dry cleaning fluids? Detergents? Lacquers? Flame retardants? Plastic meat wrap?
Plastic meat wrap? Clearly, what I knew about my chemical exposure history was pretty vague. I decided to search for clues. My new book, What’s Gotten Into Us: Staying Healthy in a Toxic World, takes a clear-eyed look at the ways everyday things may be making us sick, and shows how we can protect ourselves by making wiser, healthier choices. It examines the way products are made and regulated (or, typically, not regulated); the way synthetic chemicals enter our bodies, and the latest research about what this chemical “body burden” may be doing to our health. It looks at our shopping habits, our drinking water, and our lawn care, and it ponders the ways advertising and marketing have blinded us to some pretty obvious problems.