A01=Sarah A. Vogel
american culture
american society
Author_Sarah A. Vogel
bpa plastic
Category=JBF
Category=MKGT
coffee table books
dangers of plastic
discussion books
easy to read
economics and science
educational books
engaging
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
going green
health care issues
health fitness
health policy
home school science books
informative reading
is plastic safe
learning from experts
nonfiction reading
page turner
plastic in environment
politics and science
public health books
quarantine books
safety guide
saving the planet
science and math
Product details
- ISBN 9780520273573
- Weight: 590g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 20 Dec 2012
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
We are all just a little bit plastic. Traces of bisphenol A or BPA, a chemical used in plastics production, are widely detected in our bodies and environment. Is this chemical, and its presence in the human body, safe? What is meant by safety? Who defines it, and according to what information? "Is It Safe" narrates how the meaning of the safety of industrial chemicals has been historically produced by breakthroughs in environmental health research, which in turn trigger contests among trade associations, lawyers, politicians, and citizen activists to set new regulatory standards. Drawing on archival research and extensive interviews, author Sarah Vogel explores the roots of the contemporary debate over the safety of BPA, and the concerns presented by its estrogen-like effects even at low doses. Ultimately, she contends that science alone cannot resolve the political and economic conflicts at play in the definition of safety.
To strike a sustainable balance between the interests of commerce and public health requires recognition that powerful interests will always try to shape the criteria for defining safety, and that the agenda for environmental health research should be protected from capture by any single interest group.
Sarah Vogel is Managing Director of the Health program at the Environmental Defense Fund
