Since the dawn of the industrial age, we have unleashed a bewildering number of potentially harmful chemicals. But out of this vast array, how do we identify the actual threats? What does it take to prove that a certain chemical causes cancer? How do we translate academic knowledge of the toxic effects of particular substances into understanding real-world health consequences? The science that answers these questions is toxicology.
In The Alchemy of Disease, John Whysner offers an accessible and compelling history of toxicology and its key findings. He details the experiments and discoveries that revealed the causal connections between chemical exposures and diseases. Balancing clear accounts of groundbreaking science with human drama and public-policy relevance, Whysner describes key moments in the development of toxicology and their thorny social and political implications. The book features discussions of toxicological problems past and present, including DDT, cigarettes and other carcinogens, lead poisoning, fossil fuels, chemical warfare, pharmaceuticals—including opioids—and the efficacy of animal testing. Offering valuable insight into the science and politics of crucial public-health concerns, The Alchemy of Disease shows that toxicology’s task—pinpointing the chemical cause of an illness—is as compelling as any detective story.
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I: Why Do We Need Toxicology?
- 1. Cancer Clusters: Truth Can Be Obscure
- 2. Death from Arsenic and Venoms: Truth Can Be Obvious
- 3. Paracelsus: The Alchemist at Work
- 4. Mining and the Beginnings of Occupational Medicine
- 5. The Chemical Age
- 6. The Bioassay Boom
- Part II: How Do We Study Toxicology, and What Have We Learned?
- 7. Lead: A Heavy Metal Weighing Down the Brain
- 8. Rachel Carson: Silent Spring Is Now Noisy Summer
- 9. The Study of Cancer
- 10. How Are Carcinogens Made?
- 11. Some Carcinogens Directly Affect Genes
- 12. Cancer Caused by Irritation
- 13. Cigarette Smoking: Black, Tarry Lungs
- 14. What Causes Cancer?
- Part III: How Do We Use Toxicology?
- 15. Protecting Workers from Chemical Diseases
- 16. The Importance of Having a Good Name
- 17. Can We Accurately Regulate Chemicals?
- 18. The Dose Makes the Poison
- 19. Are We Ready to Clean Up the Mess?
- 20. Legal Battles
- 21. The Toxicology of War
- Part IV: The Unfinished Business of Toxicology
- 22. Opiates and Politics
- 23. The Toxicology of Climate Change
- 24. Animal Models for Human Disease
- 25. Are Animal Cancer Bioassays Reliable?
- 26. Hormone Mimics and Disrupters
- 27. Building Better Tools for Testing
- 28. An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure
- Notes
- Index
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