Poison Paradox: Chemicals as Friends and Foes

We are assailed with scare stories about the chemical dangers lurking in our food, our homes, and the environ. This book explores how the chemicals that we use and that occur all around us can often be beneficial and yet under other circumstances can become poisons. By examining a variety of cases, from tragic disasters such as Bhopal and Minamata Bay, to the puffer fish which is at once poisonous and prized as a delicacy, this book explores the science of poisons: the different ways in which they harm us, and how they may be counteracted. By understanding the science of the poisons that we might encounter by accident or design, we can assess what the real risks are, and learn to live with them safely. Illustrations.