Over 400 years ago, Swiss alchemist and physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) cited: "All substances are poisons; there is none that is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy." This is often condensed to: "The dose makes the poison." So, why are we overtly anxious about intoxications?In fact, poisons became a global problem with the industrial revolution. Pesticides, asbestos, occupational chemicals, air pollution, and heavy metal toxicity maintain high priority worldwide, especially in developing countries. Children between 0 and 5 years old are the most vulnerable to both acute and chronic poisonings, while older adults suffer from the chronic effects of chemicals. This book aims to raise awareness about the challenges of poisons, to help clinicians understand current issues in toxicology.

Over 400 years ago, Swiss alchemist and physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) cited: ""All substances are poisons; there is none that is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy."" This is often condensed to: ""The dose makes the poison."" So, why are we overtly anxious about intoxications?In fact, poisons became a global problem with the industrial revolution. Pesticides, asbestos, occupational chemicals, air pollution, and heavy metal toxicity maintain high priority worldwide, especially in developing countries. Children between 0 and 5 years old are the most vulnerable to both acute and chronic poisonings, while older adults suffer from the chronic effects of chemicals. This book aims to raise awareness about the challenges of poisons, to help clinicians understand current issues in toxicology.

Modern Poisons bridges the gap between traditional toxicology textbooks and journal articles on cutting-edge science. This accessible book explains basic principles in plain language while illuminating the most important issues in contemporary toxicology. Kolok begins by exploring age-old precepts such as the dose-response relationship and goes on to show exactly how chemicals enter the body and elicit their toxic effect. Kolok then traces toxicology's development, from studies of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in toiletries to the emerging science on prions and epigenetics. Whether studying toxicology itself, public health, or environmental science, readers will develop a core understanding of--and curiosity about--this fast-changing field.

In the early 1990s, Russian President Boris Yeltsin revealed that for the previous thirty years the Soviet Union had dumped vast amounts of dangerous radioactive waste into rivers and seas in blatant violation of international agreements. The disclosure caused outrage throughout the Western world, particularly since officials from the Soviet Union had denounced environmental pollution by the United States and Britain throughout the cold war. Poison in the Well provides a balanced look at the policy decisions, scientific conflicts, public relations strategies, and the myriad mishaps and subsequent cover-ups that were born out of the dilemma of where to house deadly nuclear materials. Why did scientists and politicians choose the sea for waste disposal? How did negotiations about the uses of the sea change the way scientists, government officials, and ultimately the lay public envisioned the oceans? Jacob Darwin Hamblin traces the development of the issue in Western countries from the end of World War II to the blossoming of the environmental movement in the early 1970s. This is an important book for students and scholars in the history of science who want to explore a striking case study of the conflicts that so often occur at the intersection of science, politics, and international diplomacy.

An analysis of the challenge that India's poison culture posed for colonial rule and toxicology's creation of a public role for science.

“An enlightening and deeply disturbing account” of the dangerous chemicals that have infiltrated our food, by the Rachel Carson Prize–winning journalist (Booklist). Our Daily Poison is “a gripping and urgent book” for anyone concerned about democracy, corporate power, or public health (Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved). In it, award-winning journalist and filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin travels across North America, Europe, and Asia to document the shocking array of chemicals we encounter in our daily lives—from the pesticides that blanket our crops to the additives and plastics that contaminate our food—and their effects on our health over time. Following the trail of the synthetic molecules in our environment and our food, Robin traces the ugly history of industrial chemical production, as well as the shoddy regulatory system for chemical products that still operates today. Using scientific studies, expert testimony, and interviews with farmworkers suffering from acute chronic poisoning, Robin demonstrates how corporate interests—and our own ignorance—may be costing us our lives. “What Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking Silent Spring did for the environmental movement, Robin is doing for awareness of toxins in the food chain.” —Publishers Weekly “This may be one of the most important books of the year.” —Kirkus Reviews “Full of facts, stories, and wisdom.” —The Huffington Post

Equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner's Handbook is "a vicious, page-turning story that reads more like Raymond Chandler than Madame Curie." —The New York Observer “The Poisoner’s Handbook breathes deadly life into the Roaring Twenties.” —Financial Times “Reads like science fiction, complete with suspense, mystery and foolhardy guys in lab coats tipping test tubes of mysterious chemicals into their own mouths.” —NPR: What We're Reading A fascinating Jazz Age tale of chemistry and detection, poison and murder, The Poisoner's Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten era. In early twentieth-century New York, poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime. Science had no place in the Tammany Hall-controlled coroner's office, and corruption ran rampant. However, with the appointment of chief medical examiner Charles Norris in 1918, the poison game changed forever. Together with toxicologist Alexander Gettler, the duo set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing scientific detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice. In 2014, PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE released a film based on The Poisoner's Handbook.