Kayla’s Reviews > They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals > Status Update

“…fluorocarbons were a virgin frontier mined with poorly understood hazards, and the frenzied pace left little time for developing safeguards. At DuPont’s Chamber Works, the dangers of the fluorocarbon processing areas were legendary. Fires and explosions were commonplace; employees were regularly hospitalized with breathing problems, chemical burns, or worse… Workers weren’t the only ones affected…”

“The rest of the executive team shared Stine’s skepticism, and it wasn’t only the stunning complexity of the task that worried them. DuPont was still struggling to shed its reputation as a “merchant of death.” Just a few months earlier, Congress had learned that a GM joint venture had cut a deal in the late 1930s to supply the Germans with the secret for making leaded gasoline… Lawmakers were livid.”

“These events opened the door to the widespread sale of leaded gasoline, which would wreak havoc on public health for decades. They also established the bedrock principles that have governed our system for regulating potentially harmful substances ever since: first, that industry can be trusted to serve as an unbiased arbiter of science, and second, that products are to be presumed safe until proven otherwise…”

“Midgley worked his way through thousands of substances, from ammonium chloride to melted butter… But he eventually found two that solved the problem. One was ethanol… The other was a toxic compound called tetraethyl lead. In a 1922 letter…very poisonous if absorbed through the skin… But unlike ethanol, the tetraethyl blend could be patented—meaning GM and DuPont would profit on every gallon.”

Just the preface has me thinking back to Silent Spring (at this point Silent Spring should just be mandatory reading for every human on earth) and I’m excited (also nervous. Silent Spring should remain history, not have a refrain for current day)