I was sent Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things to review.  This is a book that everyone should read. Two Canadian men set up an experiment where they spent a week in a rented apartment inhaling and ingesting a variety of toxic chemicals that are in everyday objects. They put in new carpeting, washed their hands and bodies with antibacterial soaps, ate canned food and drank out of baby bottles (I assume they drank out of the bottle only and not the nipple, lol), and sent urine and blood samples to a forensic lab for testing.

What they found shocked the heck out of them, and it should shock us, too. Smith’s urine levels showed his phthalate level was 22 times higher than it should have been, his levels of triclosan 2,900 times higher, and his level of BPA 7.5 times higher. And this was just after one week! Now think about a baby drinking out of a bottle containing BPA several times a day every day for a year! YIKES.

Unfortunately, the authors concluded that we simply can’t avoid all toxic chemicals. Those easily-wipeable bench seats at restaurants? Coated in chemicals. That spray of air freshener in public bathrooms? Spewing out a toxic chemical. Since never leaving the house is not a solution, the best way we can fight this is to encourage our government to improve regulation and oversight, and to keep ourselves informed. Buying this book is one way to start!

disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review.

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