Tobacco addresses the many interrelated controversies surrounding the historical and current use of tobacco and presents a clear, objective, and thorough treatment of this contentious public health and legal issue. The American Indians valued tobacco as a wonder drug. When Rodrigo de Jerez, who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his maiden voyage of 1492, returned to Spain with tobacco, he was accused of associating with Satan and imprisoned when his compatriots saw smoke coming out of his nose. This book covers everything from the history of tobacco to health and social issues such as targeting children. Biographical sketches of key personalities associated with tobacco range from Thomas Edison, who refused to hire anybody who smoked cigarettes, to Jean Nicot, the French Ambassador to Portugal in the mid-1500s, from whose name the word nicotine is derived. This title takes the reader through the myriad of issues that make up the tobacco debate in a clear and unbiased way.

In March 2011, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental activist group, released a questionable report alleging that chemical exposures throughout the country have led to numerous "disease clusters." The group called for far-reaching reforms that would place huge financial burdens on chemical manufacturers and American taxpayers. Accelerated job loss and restrictions or bans on safe and usefulproducts would be the consequences of the misguided concern generated by this (and similar) scientifically flawed warnings. In response, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), basing our analysis on well established principles of scientific investigation, critically evaluated the NRDC's purported disease clusters and assessed the depth of the evidence-based support for these claims. This publication is a case-by-case investigation of each of the NRDC's claims. We explain why, with few exceptions, their allegationshave no scientific basis and fly in the face of the conclusions reached by objective governmental public health agencies.

Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: Theory and Practice assembles the expertise of more than fifty authorities from fifteen different fields, forming a comprehensive reference and textbook on risk assessment. Containing two dozen case studies of environmental or human health risk assessments, the text not only presents the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline, but also serves as a complete handbook and "how-to" guide for individuals conducting or interpreting risk assessments. In addition, more than 4,000 published papers and books in the field are cited. Editor Dennis Paustenbach has assembled chapters that present the most current methods for conducting hazard identification, dose-response and exposure assessment, and risk characterization components for risk assessments of any chemical hazard to humans or wildlife (fish, birds, and terrestrials). Topics addressed include hazards posed by: Air emissions Radiological hazards Contaminated soil and foods Agricultural hazards Occupational hazards Consumer products and water Hazardous waste sites Contaminated air and water The bringing together of so many of the world's authorities on these topics, plus the comprehensive nature of the text, promises to make Human and Ecological Risk Assessment the text against which others will be measured in the coming years.

Are the baby boomers in Canada more or less healthy than previous generations? What are the implications of this for the national health care system? Baby Boomer Health Dynamic responds to the growing interest in the generation that makes up over one-third of the Canadian population - the largest segment of society - with the leading edge reaching their sixty-fifth birthday in 2011 and eighty-five by 2031. Focusing on four health behaviours that have been proven to be major risk factors for disease: smoking, unhealthy exercise, obesity, and heavy drinking - Andrew V. Wister researches the long-term implications of several key lifestyle-health conundrums, most notably the paradoxical relationship in the concurrent trends over the last two decades of increased exercise levels and a significant rise in obesity. This invariably leads to questions about the eating habits of North Americans, and in particular, the quantity and quality of fast-food and convenience-food consumption. Recent public declarations by a number of health organizations and institutes that we are experiencing an obesity crisis, and moreover, that obesity is the 'new tobacco' makes Baby Boomer Health Dynamics both timely and topical.

Our public health system is primarily concerned with the promotion of health and the prevention of disease. But while everyone may agree with these goals in principle, in practice public health is a highly contentious policy arena. that is inevitably entangled with sensitive issues ranging from occupational safety and environmental hazards to health education, immunization, and treatment of addiction and sexually transmitted disease. Today however, concern for protecting the population against bio-terrorism and new epidemics such as SARS is tipping the balance back toward increased support for public health. This book focuses on the politics, policies, and methodologies of public health and the twenty-first century challenges to the public health system of the United States. It explores the system's relatively weak position in the American political culture, medical establishment, and legal system; scientific and privacy issues in public health; and the challenges posed by ecological risk and the looming threat of bio-terrorist attack. Each chapter includes study questions. The volume also includes a chronology of major laws and events in public health policy along with an extensive bibliography.

Did you know that smoking is the most common drug addiction in the United States? Or that it can take only a single cigarette to become addicted? Packed with information on how smoking and second-hand smoke affect the human body, the debate over the right to smoke, the status of lawsuits against tobacco companies, and much more, this in-depth resource concludes with a detailed section on how to quit the deadly habit.