For me, the most terrifying aspect was the dawning realization that I had read many of the research papers cited within, but had not drawn the elements together. As the pieces fell into place, my eyes opened in horror at the implications....and I looked down at my infant son, who I was breastfeeding, appalled at the choices now confronting me.

But make no mistake, this is no tabloid horror, nor a new age book on the environment. This is a well-researched work, with an opening prelude by Vice President Al Gore. The facts are presented in a clear, concise manner that does not require a college degree to understand, but nor will it bore academics. Told with the same mounting tension as Richard Preston's The Hot Zone, the real terror comes when the reader realizes that unlike Ebola, there is no possible escape. This is not some emerging virus in a distant country, this is here...now, already in us....

Current human population growth masterfully disguises an insidious biological time bomb already exploding within us all. In our desire to create new and better chemical nightmares manufactured under the guise of modern living conveniences, we may be headed to extinction as fast and sure as any currently endangered species. ...And it's hitting is right where it hurts most, the physical and psychological abilities we need to reproduce.

But like a well presented piece of research, with the null hypothesis clearly in mind, this book does not draw unfounded conclusions. It allows you, the reader, to draw your own. And when you do, you may never sleep well again.

Buy this book. Read it, lend a copy to a friend and encourage them to buy it. It may be the single most important book you ever read.

68 of 75 found the following review helpful:


Stop, I Want Off Now  Jun 08, 2002 By J.W.K
The Industrial Revolution ushered in a lot of nice toys and some really convenient products - if it hasn't made our lives a little more frantic - but with this book, and now a host of other books like it, we see that the end results of our mad-dash to make and remake the world using our new scientific know-how is taking a huge toll on human health: Sperm counts are plummeting, cancer-rates are sky high, the immune system is being undermined, and hormone-mimics are quite possibly eroding our intelligence and altering our behavior. Without realizing it, we have put ourselves in grave peril, and ironically enough it is a cadre of scientists (life scientists, that is, ecologists and biologists) who are sounding the wake-up call -- ironic because it was their ilk, the chemists and scientific industrialists, who brought us pesticides, PCBs, and other toxic substances in the first place. The sad fact is, we all have these substances in our body now. There is no way to escape the new, chemicalized environment we have constructed. So in other words, there is no getting off this joy ride. That said, if you are interested in learning about natural detoxification processes, read "Hormone Deception" (Berkson, 2000). There is a lot of useful information in there, as well as a chapter about how diet and excercise can help keep these substnaces at lower levels by speeding up and aiding the body's natural detoxification processes. In a nutshell, she suggested to eating green, yellow and red veggies, taking in a lot of protein (nuts and seeds work fine for veggetarians), getting a regular dose of antioxidents, and excercising until you sweat for 30 minutes six days a week. For more detailed information, read the book. Take care of your body. Tread lightly on the planet. Good luck!

22 of 22 found the following review helpful:


An Absolute Must Read  Sep 05, 2004 By Maren E. Bell
As a biology major in college, I was fortunate enough to take a class on mammalian reproduction with Dr. Fred vom Saal at the University of Missouri, one of the main researchers in this book. Although this book is nearly 10 years, it is still incredibly telling of the insidious nature of various industries who clearly do not have your safety in mind. The fact that a representive from Dow Chemical actually came down to bribe Dr. vom Saal to not publish his research right away is pretty telling of their goals. The plastics industry makes billions of dollars per year on polycarbonate plastics and its base unit bisphenol A used to make baby bottles, the lining of many aluminum cans, and the popular Nalgene water bottles. When it comes to you and your future children, shouldn't the burden of proof rest on the plastics industry? If you check out www.bisphenol-a.org, which of course lauds the safety and wonders of polycarbonate plastic, you might notice that those and other sites are maintained by the American Plastics Council, among others, which love to site their own studies that say that bisphenol A is just great. Gee, do you think they want bad press about a chemical that has been shown to cause a myriad of reproductive and other physiological problems? Does this sound like the tobacco industry to anyone else? I am fortunate enough now, several years later, to now be a graduate student with Dr. vom Saal as my advisor. After my PhD, I also plan on going to law school for environmental law to finally bring some truth of this to light. As said previously, this should be a required reading of all college students who will have to make some choices about the future of our species.

51 of 57 found the following review helpful:


worthy of further investigation  Jul 14, 1999 By flories.faces@cwix.com
After hearing about this book in Jan.'99 on public radio,I finally bought it and read it in Feb. It changed my life. I've sent over 30 petitions, with 37 friends' signatures, to food and beverage providers, requesting further info based on the book. I received several letters, most notably from the Coca Cola Company and Campbell's Soup, that they line all or part of their canned items with Bisphenol-A, an estrogen mimic and hormone disruptor that is biologically active and leaches into the food.. They tell me that it's FDA approved. Some responses from providers stated that the amt. of bisphenol-A is too minute to be harmful. I answ. them that acc. to the book, minute amts. are more damaging than lg. quantities..esp. for pregnant women & young children. My mother died in 1977 from experimental estrogen therapy in the mid-70's. They since have added progesterin into the mixture. Thousands of women are currently having Estrogen therapy pushed on them, with no advice to more holistic options,(soy milk, broccoli, exercise). I miss my mother. Please contact me if you need to know what else I've found out. Stay away from all canned beverages to play it safe. Tell everyone you know to do the same. So far, the PET (polyethanol) plastic bottles-(recycle#1) seem to be a safe container, Evian water was professional enough to get me as much info as they had avail. to ease my mind of that. Thank you, Floris RGF.

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