Chemicals, Human Health, and the Environment

As we enter the new millennium, chemical and energy
technology practice is in the throes of a paradigm shift.
During the past fi fty years there has been a growing
awareness of the adverse effects of chemical products,
byproducts and wastes upon human health and the
environment, and the development of federal and state
regulations has been an important fi rst step in the redress of
these problems. This book provides a history of these early years from a scientific
and sociopolitical perspective to provide the necessary background for charting a
course for the new millennium. The sources of pollution of the air we breathe, the
water we drink, the land that provides our sustenance and the blood that courses
through our veins are no longer regional or even national in scope and it is clear
that new ways of thinking are required to insure that the ongoing evolution of
chemical and energy technology is in keeping with the needs of all the people
and ecosystems of planet earth. The book concludes with an environmental credo
to provide the technical, political and ethical bases for the paradigm shift to a
sustainable balance among chemicals, human health and the environment.