I recently finished reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck, an informative book about "toxic chemicals in everyday life". Despite the fact that I've rarely, if ever, read and enjoyed a non-fiction book, I could hardly put SDbRD down. The book follows two mens quest to understand the toxic nature in products that are all around each of us each day. They focus on 8 or so main toxic chemicals in; Teflon, Fish, Flame retardants, Fragrances, Plastics, and Antibacterial soaps.
The two authors, who are both environmental activists, do a study on themselves to understand the nature of these common, everyday chemicals, and how they effect their own health (Sort of like the guy in "supersize me"), and their results are rather astounding. In just a couple days they managed to increase the amount of chemicals in their bodies dramatically, simply by doing things most people do in everyday life.
I really appreciated this book. It was well written, it was carefully thought out and researched, and was quite easy to understand, even as someone who knows very little about chemistry in the first place.
I feel a lot more aware about what I do, eat, use, and otherwise consume. The book has a great message, one that is, or at least should be, life changing.
I really don't do it justice, trying to describe it, but I know I'm glad to have read it. And the new awareness that comes along with it, isn't bad either.
Also, it's pretty cool that it was written by two Canadians.
