We live in a world awash in manmade chemicals, from the pesticides on our front lawns to the diesel exhaust in the air we breathe. Although experts are beginning to understand the potential dangers of these substances, there are still more than 80,000 synthetic compounds that have not been sufficiently tested to interpret their effects on human health. Yale professor John Wargo has spent much of his career researching the impact of chemical exposures on women and children. In this book, he explains the origins of society's profound misunderstanding of everyday chemical hazards and offers a practical path toward developing greater 'green intelligence'. Despite the rising trend in environmental awareness, information about synthetic substances is often unavailable, distorted, kept secret, or presented in a way that prevents citizens from acting to reduce threats to their health and the environment. Through five histories of hazardous technologies and practices, Wargo finds remarkable patterns in delayed discovery of dangers and explains governments' failures to manage them effectively. Sobering yet eminently readable, Wargo's book ultimately offers a clear vision for a safer future through prevention, transparency, and awareness.

John Wargo is professor of environmental policy, risk analysis, and political science at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Department of Political Science at Yale University. He is Chair of the Environmental Studies Major in Yale College and has been an adviser to several EPA administrators, several National Academy of Sciences Committees, the U.S. Congress, the U.N. World Health Organization, and Vice President Al Gore.

"Wargo's proposed strategy for winning the chemical war is sensible: we need to create an environmentally intelligent society. . . . His clear-eyed approach offers transparency and a solution to the frenzy of chemical misinformation in our lives."--Stephanie Wallis, "The Ecologist"--Stephanie Wallis "The Ecologist "