I asked journalist Lydia Denworth why she decided to write the book, Toxic Truth: A Scientist, A Doctor and the Battle Over Lead,
Denworth: I was drawn to the people whose story it tells. They are
unsung heroes who deserve to be more widely known.
I wanted to know why it took so long to take real action on
lead and why Patterson and Needleman and their allies had to fight so hard.
I began to see that the larger story of lead was an
important case study for all kinds of environmental issues
Park Slope's Lydia Denworth is the author of Toxic Truth: A Scientist, A Doctor and the Battle Over Lead, the first book to tell the incredible story of the two men behind the bitter thirty-year fight to protect children from lead.
Denworth is a writer and editor based in New York City. A former reporter for Newsweek and bureau chief for People, her writing on science, education and social issues has appeared in the New York Times, Redbook, Health and other publications.
In
2009, she'll be teaching in the journalism department at Long Island
University. She serves on the boards of trustees of the Berkeley
Carroll School and the Oliver Program, which expands the educational
opportunities of black and Latino students.She lives in Park Slope Brooklyn with her husband and three sons.
Denworth is having a book launch party and talk at the Old Stone House (in
conjunction with the Community Bookstore) on Tuesday March 3rd at 7
p.m.There will be books for sale and signing.
Subject: “Get the Lead Out” Campaign
Are you concerned about saving the environment? Have you wanted to do something to help, but didn’t know what would make an impact? Can you spend an hour of your time to make a difference? What to do is simple and can have profound impact on today and the health of tomorrow’s environment. Lead is a toxic material that is all too common along our roadways and water ways because we, the American people, have not demanded action.
The number of vehicles on the roads of the North American region as of 1st January 2003, is estimated at 257.8 million units, of which 154 million units, or 59.7%, are passenger cars, and 103.8 million units, or 40.3% are commercial vehicles, a split which is massively at variance with every other country and/or region in the world (source: DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 13, 2004 — Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/) The North American Vehicle Parc to their offering).
There are four tires on each car that may contain one or more lead weights to “balance” the tires. With just one lead weight per tire, there are approximately one half a billion lead weights distributed around the country on cars. If you add trucks and other vehicles, there are potentially one and one half a billion lead weights on tires. If they stayed there and were recycled as most are, there is not much of contamination problem. But the fact is that pot holes develop in many roads where there sub-grade is saturated with water and the road surface breaks down to form a pot hole. This is where most of the lead weights come off of car and truck tires. The lead weights come off right where the ground is the wettest. These weights then are subject to natural acids in water and soil that break down the lead weight, leaching the contaminants into the ground water or run-off water that flows into our streams and rivers.
There are many non-toxic materials that can be used to replace these lead tire weights. Some cost only a fraction more than lead. The conversion from lead to a non-toxic alternative is as easy as replacing or rebalancing your tires. Every tire in the country could be done in a couple of years, assuming that normal tire wear and maintenance trends remain the same. Do something now!
Find a lead weight along the side of the road and mail it to your Congressman or Senator. Make sure that you label your mail as “Hazardous Material” and tell him or her to “Get the Lead Out” of our environment. You will be helping by removing lead that will eventually leach into someone’s water supply, and you will put your representative on notice to do something about it. Then email this to all of your family and friends. At 2 ounces of lead per average tire weight, we would remove 125,000 pounds of lead from the environment if just 1 million American’s cared enough about the environment to do something like – Get the Lead Out.
Care enough to make a difference.
Neil Arnold
7102 Point Replete Circle
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060
Two ounce and four ounce lead (picture)
tire weights found along Telegraph Road