Chemicals, Human Health, and the Environment

As we enter the new millennium, chemical and energytechnology practice is in the throes of a paradigm shift. During the past fi fty years there has been a growingawareness of the adverse effects of chemical products,byproducts and wastes upon human health and theenvironment, and the development of federal and stateregulations has been an important fi rst step in the redress ofthese problems. This book provides a history of these early years from a scientificand sociopolitical perspective to provide the necessary background for charting acourse for the new millennium. The sources of pollution of the air we breathe, thewater we drink, the land that provides our sustenance and the blood that coursesthrough our veins are no longer regional or even national in scope and it is clearthat new ways of thinking are required to insure that the ongoing evolution ofchemical and energy technology is in keeping with the needs of all the peopleand ecosystems of planet earth. The book concludes with an environmental credoto provide the technical, political and ethical bases for the paradigm shift to asustainable balance among chemicals, human health and the environment.