How to live without toxic chemicals and get rid of those we already have
Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie are the authors of Slow Death by Rubber Duck, a book about the synthetic chemicals that surround us, including hormonedisrupting phthalates and parabens, cancer- causing pesticides, heavy metals and air pollutants. The two environmentalist authors have written a second book, Toxin Toxout: Getting Harmful Chemicals out of Our Bodies and Our World.
Q: Tell us a bit about your book.
A: Toxin Toxout is about how we can live a healthier life by avoiding chemicals. And what we need to do so that our bodies can rid themselves of unwanted toxins. The book is centred around a series of experiments we conducted on ourselves and other intrepid volunteers. For example, we directly measured the toxin levels in people after eating organic food and after using conventional versus nontoxic cosmetics. And we tried a whole variety of so- called “detox” methods to see what works and what is modern- day snake oil. Toxin Toxout concludes with some important ideas on how we can build a greener, less toxic economy and society. It’s entertaining and optimistic, and the most definitive book available on how to protect yourself and your family from toxic pollutants in everyday life.
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: With the success of our first book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck, we were able to speak to thousands of people all over the world about all the toxic chemicals we ingest. Invariably, we were asked if there was anything people can do to eliminate toxins from their body. Toxin Toxout is the ( highly readable!) answer to that question.
Q: What changes have you made in your daily routines based on what you learned while researching this book?
A: We have both been very careful about chemicals after writing Slow Death by Rubber Duck, but what we learned in Toxin Toxout has reinforced the importance of eating an organic diet, avoiding plastics, drinking water, exercising and for those with serious toxicity, seeking out someone from the growing and sophisticated field of health professionals who oversee detoxing.
Q: You write that the only way to get rid of toxic chemicals is to move to a circular economic model — can you explain?
A: Yes, we focus the book not only on what we can do in our daily lives, but also on the broader global societal challenges we face regarding the use of chemicals, plastics and growing waste and inefficiency. Our economic system treats the environment and human bodies as nothing more than waste receptacles. In the book we describe the failure of the global economy to address garbage, depleting resources, ineffective recycling programs and global chemical contamination. As one tangible example of the harm this creates, the toxic chemicals from all the consumer products we surround ourselves with are flushed down the drain, accumulate in lakes and rivers, and then come back at us through the drinking water in our taps. We need to get away from a linear economy where things are thrown away, to a circular economy where inefficiency is minimized, and true reuse and recycling widespread.