cover image Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy

Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy

Joe Thornton. MIT Press (MA), $62.5 (611pp) ISBN 978-0-262-20124-7

In what may become a landmark book in environmental policy, Thornton articulates a new strategy for eradicating one of the world's most pervasive and dangerous pollutants: organochlorines. Produced from chlorine gas in making plastics, papers, pesticides and other industrial chemicals, organochlorines--like DDT, PCBs and dioxins--now contaminate absolutely every inch of the planet, according to the author, from freshwater fish and polar ice caps to the tissues and milk of the general human population. In this lucid study, Thornton, a research fellow at Columbia University and a former research coordinator for Greenpeace, explains how organochlorines have come to dominate virtually all official and unofficial lists of toxic pollutants, and outlines how industries can replace chlorine gas with safer, economically feasible alternatives. Just as important, he proposes a new strategy for dealing with environmental threats; as his ""Ecological Paradigm"" shifts the focus from individual chemicals to broad classes of hazardous substances and the industries that produce them, it also emphasizes clean production over pollution control. In so doing, the paradigm recognizes the complexity of natural systems, the limitations of science to predict and diagnose the effects of pollution and the inability of quick technological fixes to prevent the continuing buildup of these compounds around the world. Thornton wisely moves the detailed, scientific support for his arguments to references and a back section of notes, turning the body of his book into a compelling essay that identifies a critical problem, pinpoints its causes and outlines a practicable solution. 21 illus. (Mar.)