BuzzFlash Reviews

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

From Chelsea Green, the Publisher:

"Exposed will open your eyes to a global economic power shift that could have dramatic repercussions for U.S. businesses and consumers.

In contrast to what they tell U.S. consumers and regulators, corporations intent on thwarting stricter environmental and health guidelines here at home are profitably meeting new demands by the European Union to improve their products. As a result, a new economic model is being developed, industries are revamping, and they are financially succeeding. In Exposed, Mark Schapiro takes the reader inside this power shift that has gone almost wholly unreported in the United States. Europe’s evolving search for higher standards places Brussels, not Washington, at the center of global market innovation in the twenty-first century.

Exploring recent changes in the European Union—where stricter consumer safety regulations have forced multinationals into manufacturing safer products—Schapiro’s exposé shows that short of strong government intervention, the United States will lose whatever claim it has to commercial supremacy. Increasingly, its products are equated with serious health hazards--hazards that the powerful E.U. trading block is legislating out of existence in a lead that even China is beginning to follow.

Schapiro’s revelations will spark a sea change in the way U.S. consumers think about everyday products—from plastic softeners that can contribute to sexual malformations to cosmetics additives that are potential toxins to the liver, kidneys, and endocrine system. This important book will also change our view of the future of environmental and public health principles on the national and global stage, and the roles we can play in protecting ourselves from a variety of hidden dangers."

Table of Contents

1. Soft Power, Hard Edge

2. The Beauty Bluff

3. Sex & Plastic

4. Two Houses of Risk

5. Genetic Boomerang

6. Rise & Fall of the Machine

7. Chemical Revolution

8. Transpacific Drift: China, the Next Big Thing

9. The New Diplomats: Power & Pitfalls

As reviewed on TreeHugger.com:

"It is called the 'precautionary principle'. If a mountain lion is stalking outside your home and looks hungry, the best thing to do is not go outside and act like a nice juicy meal. No, you stay away, and try to think of how to get it to leave. This makes sense. But somehow when those lions turn into chemicals (like BPA) the U.S. seems not to apply the same rules. The book, Exposed - The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products: What's at Stake for American Power, by Mark Schapiro highlights the growing gap between U.S. policy regarding chemical safety and that of the rest of the world. It gives a 'behind the scenes' look into how the U.S. has lost the edge in environmental policy, and illustrates clearly how this lack of governmental leadership will negatively impact our economy as well as our personal safety.

The book is a wake-up call. It can be down right horrifying what we buy everyday, give our babies, or use in our morning coffee. The book gives a healthy dose of fear - as well as examples of how E.U. policy effectively uses the precautionary principle to not only protect its citizens, but also gain a market edge. The book however does not entertain specific solutions to specific problems (guess we will just have to read more TH stories like John's post). Instead it is a look at the policy of governments and international organizations, and the rapidly changing world in which we live. It is worth the read, just don't read it late at night- it might keep you up."



BUZZFLASH REVIEWS