Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you would like to reduce your personal toxic load, you probably will not find a better resource than the Safe Shopper's Bible by David Steinman (an excellent health writer) and Samuel Epstein (a well-known cancer researcher).
This book covers a large array of consumer products and foods with a specific focus on cancer-causing ingredients, with specific product types and brands listed for each category. It is based upon hard research from sources including manufacturers' Materials Safety Data Sheets, reports by the World Health Organization and Freedom of Information Act requests to the FDA, USDA, EPA and ATF (which perform their own testing that often never sees the light of day).
Deodorants, shampoos and conditioners, as well as fish, red meat, and various vegetables, are just some of the many products covered. All products are listed in easy-to-read charts by category, with an overall risk level for each, and more specific information if you need it.
In the seven pages the book devotes to deodorants, for example, we see that there are enormous differences in the carcinogenicity of the various products reviewed. They range from products like English Leather A Man's Deodorant Stick, with six ingredients placing users at risk for contact dermatitis (fragrance, parabens, propylene glycol), or cancer (D&C Red 33, FD&C Green 3, FD&C Yellow 6), to Desert Essence Tea Tree Deodorant, which has no such ingredients.
The main failing of the book is that it overlooks substances that are not known carcinogens, such as mercury. Hence, various seafood items are listed as safe which actually pose a mercury risk. A secondary failing is that it was written ten years ago, and the toxic burden of the planet, and hence of our food supply, has been shifting and increasing since then.
Both of these deficiencies can be remedied by a visit to the Environmental Working Group's Web site at http://ewg.org.
This page contains a nice summary of mercury levels in fish:
http://www.ewg.org/reports/brainfood/sidebar.html
More general coverage on mercury in seafood can be found here:
http://www.ewg.org/issues/mercury/20031209/index.php
I have personally adhered to the recommendations of the Safe Shopper's Bible and its predecessor, Diet for a Poisoned Planet, since 1990. During that time, I went from a person who had sometimes extreme allergic reactions to cigarette smoke, new carpet odor, gasoline fumes, perfumes, and a variety of other common substances, resulting in recurring bouts of bronchitis, to a person who is presently in excellent health with virtually no reactions to anything. There is more to the story than that, because I also had mercury removed from my teeth during this interval, but I feel certain that paying close attention to the lists in these books was a major contributing factor to the dramatic improvement in my own health.
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The Safe Shopper's Bible: A Consumer's Guide to Nontoxic Household Products, Cosmetics, and FoodAnyone concerned about the health effects of ingredients in the items they buy every day -- from soup to flea powder, mascara, or car wax -- will find The Safe Shopper's Bible indispensable. Finally, here's a complete guide to settle such questions as: Can your hair coloring cause breast cancer? Is this brand of apple juice safe for babies? Will the additives in this salad dressing harm you? Which shampoo won't sting your eyes? The Safe Shopper's Bible rates thousands of household products, personal care products, foods, and beverages. Its extensive charts list products by brand name and rate them each for short-term and long-term health hazards. Readers can find out at a glance which products are more or less likely to provoke allergies or irritation, cause birth defects or cancer, trigger neurological problems, or pose other health hazards. In addition, the charts provide recommendations for the safest foods, toiletries, and everyday household purchases.
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