First edition.

xvii, 296 pages ; 25 cm

single unit mono

bibliography bibliography

index index

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-280) and index.

Author's note -- Preface -- A bump in the road -- Teflon town -- Lucifer's gas -- Exile to Devil's Island -- A catch-22 -- Biological dynamite -- Blood secrets -- The tipping point -- Welcome to beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia -- A rock in the machine -- "They poisoned the world" -- The reckoning -- Cloud nine -- Dirty water, dirty deal -- Accidental activists -- What-ifs and worst-case scenarios -- Wall of resistance -- Victory -- To the ends of the world -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

"A landmark investigation of the chemical industry's decades-long campaign to hide the devastating effects of "forever chemicals," told through the story of a small town on the frontline of an epic public health crisis"-- Provided by publisher.

"In 2014, after losing several friends and relatives to cancer, an unassuming insurance underwriter in Hoosick Falls, New York, began to suspect that the local water supply was polluted. When he tested his tap water, he discovered dangerous levels of forever chemicals. This set off a chain of events that led to 100 million Americans learning their drinking water was tainted. Although the discovery came as a shock to most, the U.S. government and the manufacturers of these toxic chemicals--used in everything from lipstick and cookware to children's clothing--had known about their hazards for decades. In They Poisoned the World, investigative journalist Mariah Blake tells the astonishing story of this cover-up, tracing its roots back to the Manhattan Project and through the postwar years, as industry scientists discovered that these chemicals refused to break down and were saturating the blood of virtually every human being. By the 1980s, manufacturers were secretly testing their workers and finding links to birth defects, cancer, and other serious diseases. At every step, the industry's deceptions were aided by our government's appallingly lax regulatory system--a system that has made us all guinea pigs in a vast, uncontrolled chemistry experiment. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and tens of thousands of documents, Blake interweaves the secret history of forever chemicals with the moving story of how a lone village took on the chemical giants--and won. From the beloved local doctor to the young mother who took her fight all the way to the nation's capital, citizen activists in Hoosick Falls and beyond have ignited the most powerful grassroots environmental movement since Silent Spring. Humane and revelatory, this book will provoke outrage--and hopefully inspire the change we need to protect the health of every American for generations to come."-- Jacket.

Environmental health -- New York (State) -- Hoosick Falls -- Case studies.

Chemical industry -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Hoosick Falls -- Case studies.

Perfluorinated chemicals -- Health aspects -- New York (State) -- Hoosick Falls -- Case studies.

Water -- Pollution -- Toxicology -- New York (State) -- Hoosick Falls -- Case studies.

Contamination (Technology) -- Case studies.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Disease & Health Issues.

SCIENCE / Environmental Science.

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Manufacturing.

Environmental health -- Case studies.

Chemical industry -- Case studies.

Water pollution -- Case studies.

Case Reports

Case studies.

Online version: http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Blake, Mariah They poisoned the world First edition New York : Crown, [2025] 9781524760113 (DLC) 2024049179

9781524760090 (hardcover)

1524760099 (hardcover)