Everyday Chemicals: Understanding the Risks

This book provides a nontechnical overview of chemical risk assessment, emphasizing the importance of exposure level and practical strategies for sensible decision-making. It features accessible case studies and emphasizes the role of critical thinking and science literacy in reducing fear and anxiety.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 21 February 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Chemicals are an integral part of modern life, but how do we know whether we need to worry about them? This book is a laypersons guide to understanding chemical risk. The toxicologist Gerald A. LeBlanc offers a nontechnical overview of the key factors in evaluating whether exposure to chemicals in our daily lives could be harmful. He leads readers through the basic concepts of risk assessment using real-world examples. LeBlanc emphasizes that chemical hazard depends on the level of exposure and provides practical strategies for sensible decision making. The book features a series of accessible case studies describing how we all can reach rational conclusions about the danger of typical chemical exposures we experience every day.

Giving nonexpert readers the tools to understand chemical risks, this book shows how critical thinking and science literacy can help us live with less fear and anxiety and make reasonable choices when confronted with potential hazards.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231205962