First published 1981
Brownstein takes readers inside boardrooms and regulatory agencies where decisions about chemical safety get made behind closed doors. Corporate executives weigh profit margins against public health while government officials struggle between industry pressure and citizen protection. The author reveals how pollutants enter water supplies, food chains, and neighborhoods through deliberate choices rather than accidents. Communities discover their children face elevated cancer rates. Workers learn their factories have concealed toxic exposure data for decades. Families find their wells contaminated by industrial waste. Brownstein shows how legal loopholes allow companies to dump hazardous materials while avoiding accountability. The book demonstrates that poisoning often follows predictable patterns where wealth and political influence determine who suffers consequences. At its core, this work examines how ordinary people fight back when institutions fail to protect them from environmental harm.
Genres: american, political-science, social-issues, environment, non-fiction, activism
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: david-vs-goliath, whistleblower
369 pages · Paperback · Sierra Club Books
Content warnings: child-death, toxic-relationship