Dadd walks the reader through a variety of environmental and consumer sources of toxins and how they can be avoided, from the obvious (cars produce pollution, so jogging on a busy street will make you suck in a lot of nasty stuff) to the less obvious (bedsheets are often coated with chemicals to make them wrinkle-free). The book makes a great, comprehensive starting place for people who have an interest in reducing their toxic exposure, but it does a better job of raising awareness than of letting readers really know what to do.

In the second area, it falls short in a few ways. There is little guidance on selecting specific products other than to look at a natural foods store—not that helpful, since many products marketed as natural are anything but. (She does, however, refer the reader to sources like the Cosmetics Safety Database that are more helpful in this way.) She also assumes that the reader has unlimited resources (of both time and money) and does not give guidance on making the most cost-effective changes. She also makes some assertions that are not well-supported by research, such as that adults do not need fluoride. (Mainstream research indicates that topical fluoride—i.e., in toothpaste—prevents tooth decay.)

To follow all of her recommendations would require a certain fetishizing of health at the expense of other interests (as it would take so much time and money to be completely toxic-free). Still, if you are seeking ideas, the book gets a lot of information together in one place and does so much more compactly than any website. ( )