Faith Middleton Show: We're Surrounded By Dangerous Chemicals

It's not easy to make plastic, it turns out, so companies who make it use a plasticizer or resin that makes plastic softer.  It's called DEHP.  It's in everything - the coating on cans, adhesive paper, plastic container, cellophane, metal foil, food wrappers, those water bottles we all drink, vinyl flooring, upholstery, fragrances, the list is endless.  Because it's used in medical tubing and intravenous bags, newborns and infants undergoing medical procedures have 100 to 1000 times the exposure the general population endures.  It's present in our blood when we're tested; it could explain an increase in asthma, and could explain testical problems in young boys.

But the government and science community's ability to regulate it is all over the place.  It's still everywhere.  I've learned all this from Dr. John Wargo's book, Green Intelligence.  It's an important read for anyone who wants to understand how we got here - a world awash in dangerous chemical exposures 24/7 - and what needs to be done about it.  Dr. Wargo is Professor of Environmental Policy, Risk Analysis and Political science at Yale University.  He has been an advisor to many official bodies, the U.N. and Vice President Al Gore.