- Living Downstream
About the Book
“...definitive...remarkable...a beautiful, terrifying, and inspiring argument for change.”
- The Progressive
“...a simple yet dramatic narrative form... By skillfully weaving a strong personal drama with thorough scientific research, Steingraber tells a compelling story. For anyone curious about the possible effects of contamination on the environment or personal health, it is well worth reading.”
- The Washington Post
“...an absorbing, heartbreaking book, which meets high standards in both science and literature... Steingraber...is a sublime inheritor of Rachel Carson’s mantle.”
- On the Issues, Barbara Seaman
Sandra Steingraber, biologist, poet, and survivor of cancer in her twenties, brings all three perspectives to bear on the most important health and human rights issue of our time: the growing body of evidence linking cancer to environmental contamination. Her scrupulously researched scientific analysis ranges from the alarming worldwide patterns of cancer incidence to the sabotage wrought by cancer-promoting substances on the intricate workings of human cells. In a gripping personal narrative, she travels from hospital waiting rooms to hazardous waste sites and from farmhouse kitchens to incinerator hearings, bringing to life stories of communities in her hometown and around the country as they confront decades of industrial and agricultural recklessness.
Living Downstream is the first book to bring together toxics-release data—now finally made available under right-to-know-laws—and newly released cancer registry data. Sandra Steingraber is also the first to trace with such compelling precision the entire web of connections between our bodies and the ecological world in which we eat, drink, breathe, and work. Her book strikes a hopeful note throughout, for, while we can do little to alter our genetic inheritance, we can do a great deal to eliminate the environmental contributions to cancer, and she shows us where to begin.
First published in 1997, Living Downstream was well received. Over the years, it has been used enthusiastically by educators, healthcare professionals and activists and the scientific evidence has been growing. In anticipation of the release of the documentary adaptation, Da Capo Press will be releasing the second edition of the book in April 2010. The second edition has been significantly rewritten to present all the newly emerging science on the link between synthetic chemicals and human cancer.
Living Downstream is for all readers who care about the health of their families and future generations. Sandra Steingraber’s brave, clear, and careful voice is certain to break the paralyzing silence on this subject that persists more than four decades after Rachel Carson’s great early warning.
“What we love we must protect.”
~ Sandra Steingraber
Order the DVD
The Living Downstream Educational DVD is now available for pre-order.
Learn more here.
Get on our Mailing List
Once on our mailing list, you’ll receive updates, news and health resources, right in your inbox!
News
June 1, 2010
New screenings announced!
April 16, 2010
Educational DVD now available for pre-order.
April 5, 2010
Sandra Steingraber's Weekly Essays publishing here.
