POISONS AND TOXINS

by Joan Arehart-Treichel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1976

Arehart-Treichel doesn't give us as much chemistry and biology here as she did in Immunity (p. 332, J-112), and though this is older and more serious-looking than the Limburg (YNF, above) it's surprising how much her plant section overlaps. Of course her coverage is broader too, including not only biological toxins (from botulinus and tetanus with their opposite action to human menstrual blood--a clue, she suggests unconvincingly, to the superstitions) but also the kepone and other pesticides that have wasted industrial workers and farm families and the countless industrial chemicals poisoning our food and water supplies. About these ArehartTreichel seems unduly trusting of official good intentions, but the examples are here--as are the Army's deadly stockpiles, the CIA's ridiculous attempts to poison Castro, and on a lighter note, the whole village of Hungarian women (or at least 86 and possibly hundreds) who did away with their veteran husbands in the five years following World War I.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION