Should we be concerned about the effects of these exposures on our health? Are consumer products largely responsible for the pollutants the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking in a representative sample of the population? Don’t regulators already make sure we’re safe from daily doses of hazardous substances?

With compelling clarity, Nena Baker's The Body Toxic spells out the surprising answers that every consumer will want to know (but chemical companies would rather you didn’t). The Body Toxic is a powerful argument for urgent reforms to our nation’s notoriously toothless toxics laws, and a clarion for greener, cleaner chemicals in consumer products.

EVERYDAY TOXICS – Some surprising
places you’ll find them . . .

For more like this, please go to the Resources page.

Rubber duckies and other soft-plastic toys: A new law banned six types of phthalates, linked to breast cancer, decreased sperm

 phthalate ducky

counts and birth defects, in soft plastic toys in 2008. Many phthalate-containing toys are still in kids' toy boxes.
can with bisphenol A

Canned food, including baby formula: Resin linings in most food and drink cans contain bisphenol A, an estrogen-

mimicking chemical linked to hormone disruption, reproduction and fertility problems, birth defects and prostate cancer.

Upholstered furniture: Brominated flame retardants used in foam cushions are associated with an array of negative effects, including permanent learning and

memory impairment. A pilot study showed a link between PBDEs and hyperthyroidism in house cats.

cat - borminated flame retardant

“Powerful” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Illuminating” – The Washington Post


Hundreds of chemicals are in you, in me, in all of us. That much we know for sure. In The Body Toxic, investigative journalist Nena Baker answers the pressing questions raised by our ongoing, ubiquitous and unwitting exposures to the everyday toxics grabbing headlines today: phthalates in plastic; bisphenol A in food and beverage containers; flame retardants in furniture and perfluorinated chemicals in food wrappers.

THE BODY TOXIC
is on sale now at fine bookstores everywhere, including
Powell's Books, Amazon and
Barnes & Noble.
The Body Toxic by Nena Baker

2009 Winner of a Gold Nautilus Book Award

Conscious Media / Journalism

Nena Baker wins the Nautilus Gold Book Award

Read Nena Baker's latest Blog at the Huffington Post
Watch Nena talk about writing The Body Toxic and how everyday toxins affect our health on Back Page with Jody Seay (OSU), GritTV with Laura Flanders and C-Span's Book TV

Nena Baker