Environmental Victims

Hit a child's head with a hammer, causing intellectual impairment, and the event is seen as a question of justice, with medicine attempting to heal the damage. Drive a car with leaded petrol, causing intellectual impairment in countless children, and the outcome is seen only as a medical problem, redress being unlikely. Environmental Victims challenges the concepts that have created such a warped view of environmentally-mediated injury. The book draws attention to environmental victims, whether high profile cases such as that exposed by Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria or the nameless statistics of raised cancer and respiratory disease rates. It also highlights invisible hazards such as exposure to neurotoxins and genotoxins (which may cause heritable DNA changes) in polluted air, contaminated food and drinking water; workplace hazards; radiation (from weapons testing and power generation); and industrial pollution (including major industrial disasters such as at Bougainville and Bhopal). It examines existing scientific, legal and public perceptions; provides a set of illuminating case studies; and offers solutions to ensuring human well-being in the face of environmental impacts