Hyping Health Risks: Environmental Hazards in Daily Life and the Science of Epidemiology Book

Back in the early 90s, when health officials began to hype the dangers of second-hand smoke, I was sufficiently interested (because of my heavy exposure to second hand smoke as a kid) to read the original studies. To my surprise, I found that the Surgeon-General's report on the subject was full of distortion and did not cite the relevant scientific literature accurately, and further that most of the reports upon which the report relied were dubious science at best. Now a respected researcher, Geoffrey Kabat, has written a book which explores this subject along with the questions of environmental causes for breast cancer, the effects of environmental radon, and the supposed link between power lines and cancer. He demonstrates that good science has been subordinated to political expediency and dubious policy goals in each of these areas. Lest we say to ourselves that elimination of smoking is such a valued end that distortion of the science to achieve that end is acceptable, remember that the Nazis used similar distorted science to justify some of their most heinous acts. There are precedents we do NOT want to set here.
This book will be heavy reading for someone without a scientific background - English majors beware. But it is nevertheless so clearly written, and the subject is so important, that I recommend it to everyone.