The ‘Slow Death’ that won’t die
As if in a zombie movie, the book Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things refuses to die, slowly or otherwise. Originally published in 2010 and written by two of Canada’s leading green-activist policy manipulators, Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, Slow Death is being re-released later this year. Penguin Random House Canada says the book has been “fully expanded, updated, revised.”
There’s certainly a lot to revise. “We have all become guinea pigs in a vast and uncontrolled experiment,” the authors warned in the original. That statement, which serves as the driving thesis of the book, typically comes from the mouths of chemtrail conspiracy theorists. And who’s behind the machinations? The United States, as always.
Americans have “created the toxic soup in which we bathe daily,” the Canadian authors claimed. In reality, China is the world’s largest chemical producer, not the U.S. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, in 2010, China’s chemical sales totalled 575 billion euros, nearly 46-per-cent higher than those of the U.S. (at 395 billion euros).
This sort of agenda-driven carelessness typifies the entire book. If you disagree, it’s not because you have a better grasp of the facts or a superior understanding of chemistry or toxicology than the authors; it’s because you are a part of the “powerful vested interests that make money” by poisoning people. The authors imagine that the only plausible objectors are industry shills, “anti-environmental pundits who think… nothing in society should be regulated without absolute scientific certainty.”
The authors admit their inspiration comes from well-known propagandists. “In the tradition of Super Size Me and Michael Moore,” the authors boast, “we investigated by doing.” They claim their approach is “unorthodox,” when in reality, it’s just unscientific. Serious scientists do not engage in self-experimentation (with a sample size of two) and then draw broad, sweeping conclusions about their findings. That is how activists operate — not scientists.
Indeed, the authors regularly withhold vital information from their readers. For dramatic effect, the authors say that the U.S. produces or imports 42 billion pounds of chemicals every day. What they don’t say is that, as real scientists know, everything is a chemical. Included in that list of “chemicals” are harmless gases like nitrogen and oxygen or food flavourings like vanilla. Purposefully conflating harmless chemicals with toxic ones is just one of many deceptions the authors strategically deploy throughout the book.
Furthermore, the authors make an extraordinary claim: They blame asthma, autism, ADHD, obesity, reproductive problems, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s on chemicals. But they present little evidence for it. They simply take for granted that “chemicals” are the only possible explanation for diseases or conditions for which the causes are not fully understood. It’s the 21st century equivalent of blaming plagues on witchcraft and earthquakes on angry gods.
They link autism to pesticides, mercury, phthalates, and PFOA. If — and this is a big if — these chemicals play any role in autism, it is likely to be minor. The current scientific consensus on autism is that it is 50 to 95-per-cent genetic and involves slight modifications involving over 1,000 different genes.
The authors’ recommendations for avoiding chemicals are equally absurd: Don’t use hygiene products that contain fragrances. Don’t use air fresheners. Don’t use non-stick frying pans. Avoid plastic. To avoid pesticides, plant ugly weeds in your lawn. (Yes, they actually advise that.) Also, eat locally grown, organic food — even though organic agriculture uses plenty of chemical pesticides. Bottom line: You should smell bad and pay more for groceries.
Given their pseudoscientific advice, it’s no wonder that the authors heap lavish praise on pseudoscientific organizations. At the end of the book, they provide a list of resources — a veritable who’s who of woo that includes the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Greenpeace. Maybe Dr. Oz and Info-Wars will make it into the new and improved edition.
Writing in response to Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, University of Wisconsin Professor Ira Baldwin called it a “prosecuting attorney’s impassioned plea for action” rather than a “judicial review or a balancing of the gains and losses.” That’s an apt way to characterize Slow Death by Rubber Duck and its one-sided fear mongering that won’t die, but should.