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About this book
For the past 150 years, chemicals have been tested on animals for the alleged purpose of protecting the public from their dangerous effects. This work reviews the history of animal tests and analyzes the technical and scientific problems with which they are plagued. The author: argues that using animals as human surrogates is not only unethical, but bad science; shows how animal testing has been used as an alibi for the continued use of "safe" chemicals; shows how regulatory agencies and the industry have used it to protect themselves from litigation; shatters the myth that animal tests are accurate predictors of human health risks; and shows that tests undermine environmental laws and contribute to environmental deterioration. The author provides a challenge to animal testing, her position being that we must use far less chemicals.
Contents
Fatal connections - cancer and animal testing; the numbers game? - how animal-based toxicological risk assessment works; for the public good? - debunking the animal testing myth; human health at risk; toxicological testing without using animals; reclaiming our health and our humanity - strategies for change.
Customer Reviews
Out of Print
By: Alix Fano
242 pages
'Ms Fano has broken new ground, specifically on the question of the use of animals in toxicological testing of chemicals. Her book may prove to be the best intellectual treatise for the critical position she puts forward.' - Sheldon Krimsky, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University
'Lethal Laws is cogently argued and well researched. Ms Fano's analysis is a must read for anyone involved in environmental policy or public health.' - Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director, International Center for Technology Assessment
'It is the accumulation of millions of 'safe doses' of the chemicals we are exposed to that is one of the main causes of many diseases, including cancer. But is it possible to establish really safe doses for the 75,000 chemicals in commercial use, let alone the 1,500 new ones introduced every year on the basis of animal tests? The answer is 'no'. What we must do is use far less chemicals. This is the thesis of Alix Fano's highly documented new book "Lethal Laws" - and it is very convincingly argued.' - Edward Goldsmith