Dangerous Chmicals in Slow Death by Rubber Duck

Introduction

The main theme of the book is that we expose ourselves to dangerous chemicals from using common household products for cleaning and hygienic products. However, the real danger of using these chemicals is that most of our society doesn’t know the potential health effects and outcomes one is facing. Environmental health addresses all the physical, chemical and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviors. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially can affect our health.(World Health Organization). The theme of the book is relevant to environmental health because the authors are assessing their exposure to these dangerous chemicals that are found in the products that we use to continue with our daily lives. They publish their results and find that phthalates, PFOA and PCBs are both dangerous to human health and the environment.

Background

The environmental health problems described in this book are that phthalates, PFOA and PCBs are dangerous chemicals. We are exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis and they are common household products and hygienic products. We are also increasing our exposure levels, which can create negative health effects and affect our environment. The magnitude of the problem is enormous. Everybody uses and are exposed these products on a daily basis.

Phthalates are found in plastic materials. They can cause endocrine disruption, in other words it can affect our hormones. They can also cause damage in the environment. It can harm marine life since we don’t properly recycle throw away plastic materials. PFOA (perfluoroctanoic acid) is a carcinogen. Studies show that it can cause pancreatic canc...

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