Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the Legacy of DES

Langston, Nancy

ISBN 10: 0300136072 / ISBN 13: 9780300136074

Published by Yale University Press, 2010

Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_451865828

Synopsis:

In 1941, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of diethylstilbestrol (DES), the first synthetic chemical to be marketed as an estrogen and one of the first to be identified as a hormone disruptor - a chemical that mimics hormones. Although researchers knew that DES caused cancer and disrupted sexual development, doctors prescribed it for millions of women, initially for menopause and then for miscarriage, while farmers gave cattle the hormone to promote rapid weight gain. Its residues, and those of other chemicals, in the American food supply are changing the internal ecosystems of human, livestock and wildlife bodies in increasingly troubling ways. In this gripping exploration, the environmentalist and historian Nancy Langston shows how these chemicals have since World War II penetrated into every aspect of our bodies and ecosystems, yet the U.S. government has largely failed to regulate them and has skillfully manipulated scientific uncertainty to delay regulation. Personally affected by endocrine disruptors, Langston makes a convincing argument that the FDA needs to institute proper regulation of these commonly produced synthetic chemicals.

About the Author: Nancy Langston is a professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology with a joint appointment in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The author of two previous books that have won awards and critical acclaim, she was president of the American Society for Environmental History in 2007-9.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors and the ...
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication Date: 2010
Binding: hardcover
Condition: Very Good