Pandora's Poison presents a solution to one of the most insidious environmental problems of our time: the global build-up of toxic chemicals. Everywhere on the planet, hundreds of industrial chemicals called organochlorines are accumulating in the environment, the food supply, and our bodies. These substances--such infamous pollutants as dioxins, PCBs, and DDT, along with thousands of lesser-known hazards--are produced when chlorine gas is used to make plastics, paper, pesticides, and many industrial chemicals. In a thorough and accessible analysis, biologist Joe Thornton shows how global organochlorine pollution is already contributing to infertility, immune suppression, cancer, and developmental disorders in humans and wildlife.

Thornton proposes a major shift in environmental science and policy. He shows that the current framework radically overestimates the ability of science and technology to address the complex global hazards of chemical mixtures. And he reveals how the andquot;sound scienceandquot; that dominates environmental regulations disguises political biases that protect polluters and gamble with public health.

Articulating principles for a new environmental strategy, Thornton shows that the only practical solution is to take global action on broad classes of hazardous chemicals and the processes that produce them, starting with organochlorines. He lays out a democratically controlled program to replace the production and use of chlorine gas and its derivatives with safer, effective, and economically feasible alternatives, which are already available for the majority of chlorine uses. With an innovative interdisiciplinary approach, Pandora's Poison promises to revolutionize the debate over pollution, health, and the role of science in public policy.

andquot;For years we have bet our health and the health of our planet on the demonstrably false notion that we can determine the risk of individual chemical pollutants and regulate them accordingly. It is now evident that we have lost the bet--widespread and deadly environmental contamination are the penalty. In this brilliant and lucidly written book, Joe Thornton describes an ecologically, economically, and chemically sophisticated alternative to the pollute-and-regulate system that has failed us so badly. Pandora's Poison is a breath of clean air at the start of a new century.andquot;
--David Ehrenfeld, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Rutgers University, and author of The Arrogance of Humanism

andquot;Joe Thornton has written the best book on environmental policy I've read in the past decade. The case he makes is authoritative, clear, and compelling. It deserves center stage.andquot;
--David W. Orr, Chair, Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College

andquot;For almost a decade, Joe Thornton has offered his thoughtful analyses of the organochlorine problem to the scientific community and to the concerned public. Pandora's Poison is his piandegrave;ce de randeacute;sistance. Thornton's quiet passion and no-stone-left-unturned research style combine to create a powerful argument. I've been waiting a long time for this book.andquot;
-- Sandra Steingraber, author of Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment

andquot;Joe Thornton has produced a ground-breaking treatise in environmental health. Authoritatively documented and accessible to the non-specialist, Pandora's Poison is a broad interdisciplinary analysis of both the science and the public policy of chemical pollution and argues for bold, innovative approaches to pollution prevention.andquot;
--Philip Landrigan, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Preventive and Community Medicine, Center for Children's Health and the Environment, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

andquot;In Pandora's Poison, Joe Thornton has given us a brilliant analysis of the persistent toxic impact of the massive production and environmental dissemination of synthetic chlorinated organic chemicals. He has masterfully woven together a lucid account of the molecular, biological, medical, and political aspects of a monumental industrial mistake and has designed an incisive way of ending this unnatural global disaster.andquot;
--Barry Commoner, Director, Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College, City University of New York

Articulating principles for a new environmental strategy, Thornton shows that the only practical solution is to take global action on broad classes of hazardous chemicals and the processes that produce them, starting with organochlorines. He lays out a democratically controlled program to replace the production and use of chlorine gas and its derivatives with safer, effective, and economically feasible alternatives, which are already available for the majority of chlorine uses. With an innovative interdisiciplinary approach, Pandora's Poison promises to revolutionize the debate over pollution, health, and the role of science in public policy.

The dangers of organochlorides and a proposed solution.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [457]-580) and index.

Joe Thornton, a biologist and former research coordinator for Greenpeace, is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University's Earth Institute and Department of Biological Sciences.

The problem : a global health hazard — Organochlorines around the world — First-class poisons : the toxicology of organochlorines — The damage done : health impacts in people and wildlife — Organochlorines and cancer — The cause : industrial chlorine chemistry — Chlorine in nature and industry — The chlorine business — Chemistry out of control — Major sources of organochlorine pollution — The solution : a chlorine sunset — An ecological policy on chlorine chemistry — Beyond chlorine : the alternatives — Good science, good politics.