As one reviewer stated, "Living With The Enemy is a wake-up call for consumers. Where we feel safest (at home), we are at risk." Almost every household uses products containing dangerous chemical substances, most of which are synthetic (human made). What is worrying is that many of these products (for cleaning the home, personal hygiene, fragrances, decoration, entertainment, cosmetics, food, etc.) have been placed on the market without first properly investigating and notifying the public about the effects that long term exposures may have on our health and environment. Many of these chemicals, called endocrine disruptors (hormone disruptors) that contaminate the home, can even have an effect when present at parts per billion levels. This concentration is equivalent to adding 1 drop of ink to one of the largest tanker trucks used to haul gasoline. The vulnerability to adverse effects is greater in children, pregnant women, the fetus, and the elderly. The effects can sometimes be detected in both the short term (acute effect, especially in the fetus) but usually doesn't manifest itself until longer term (chronic) exposures in adults. Some short-term or acute effects in children and adults might include nausea, dizziness, itching, stinging, burning or irritation of the eyes, irritation of the skin or respiratory tract, (coughing, sneezing) etc. which may occur a short period of time (minutes) after the exposure. More serious long-term or chronic effects include allergies, asthma, respiratory diseases, diseases of the reproductive system, alteration of the hormonal system (endocrine disruption), neurological disorders, including lifetime loss of I.Q. and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), cancers, etc., which can be diagnosed long after exposures to low doses of the chemical substances. The lack of knowledge on the part of citizens and consumers about the toxic chemicals present in these products is proving to be a "hidden" emergency. Recently, scientists have given a quantitative essence to the urgency and impacts of these chemical exposures (endocrine disruptors) by estimating annual medical and work lost impacts. These figures amount to hundreds of billions of dollars of costs annually in both Europe and the United States. Some scientists consider the consequences of exposures to endocrine disruptors as a silent epidemic of worldwide proportions. In this book I explain where these chemicals are in the home, how to minimize exposures, who is most vulnerable, and what safer chemicals are available to use. I devote an entire Chapter on alternatives to toxic chemicals to help in numerous ways to reduce exposures to the toxic soup that surrounds us all. Another Chapter lists 26 ways to reduce the dangers of toxic chemicals in the home. To quote another reviewer, in part: "Read the book. Embrace the information. Make some easy changes. Improve your life."
About the Author: Julia R. Seidler, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was born in the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She is a retired professor from the National Autonomous University, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She has 34 total years of experience as a professor of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy where she taught Analytical Chemistry, Food Analysis, Organic Chemistry, and Pharmacology and for the last 15 years taught Toxicology. She also has five years of experience in Forensic Toxicology with the Public Ministry of Honduras. She lives in Ashland, Oregon with her husband and daughter. Her husband Dr. Ramon J. Seidler who translated this edition into English from Spanish and contributed to the text, is a retired environmental research microbiologist with over 35 years of scientific research experience.