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| Preface | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Illustration Credits | |
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| Overture: Is Anything Safe? | |
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| Exaggerated Health Scares and Scientific Ignorance | |
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| Chemicals Lurking in Your Grocery Store | |
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| Proteins and Amino Acids | |
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| Essential amino acids | |
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| Protein diets | |
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| Carbohydrates | |
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| Artificial sweeteners | |
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| Bread and Cereals | |
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| Fats | |
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| Trans fats | |
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| Fat substitutes | |
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| Chocolate | |
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| Asparagus | |
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| Foods Rich in Oxalate | |
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| Flowers | |
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| Vegemite | |
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| Spices: Ancient Herbal Antibiotics | |
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| Flavor Enhancers | |
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| Natural Toxins in Food (Even Vegetables Can Be Dangerous) | |
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| Organic Foods | |
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| Is America Ready for High-Tech Dining? | |
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| Choosing between natural and genetically modified foods and medicine | |
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| Smoked Meats and Fish | |
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| Beware of Jerky (Trichinosis from Wild Game) | |
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| Alcoholic Beverages | |
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| The Pharmacy | |
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| Prescription Drugs | |
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| Contraindicated Drug Combinations | |
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| Antibiotics, Good News and Bad | |
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| Over-the-Counter Medications | |
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| Medicines and Drugs Derived from Plants | |
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| Marijuana (cannabis) | |
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| Opium | |
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| Morphine | |
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| Heroin | |
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| Codeine | |
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| Cocaine | |
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| Synthetic narcotics | |
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| Quinine | |
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| Taxol | |
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| Is "Health Food Store" an Oxymoron? | |
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| Herbal Medicines | |
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| Vitamins | |
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| Hormone Supplements | |
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| Melatonin | |
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| Steroid hormones | |
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| Peptide hormones | |
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| Performance-Enhancing Drugs | |
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| Infectious Agents: Are All Microorganisms Bad? | |
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| Viruses | |
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| Bacteria | |
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| Fungi | |
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| Algae | |
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| Lesser-Known Microorganisms | |
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| Mad-Cow and Related Prion Diseases | |
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| Cancer and the Environment | |
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| Cancer and Risk Assessment | |
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| The Delaney clause | |
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| The Immune System: Jekyll and Hyde | |
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| Examples of the Role of Microorganisms and the Immune System in History | |
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| Nature Is Elemental | |
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| Metals | |
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| Lithium | |
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| Sodium and potassium | |
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| Beryllium, magnesium, and calcium | |
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| Chromium | |
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| Iron | |
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| Cobalt | |
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| Copper | |
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| Zinc | |
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| Aluminum | |
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| Lead | |
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| Mercury | |
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| Thallium | |
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| Nonmetallic Elements | |
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| Boron | |
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| Carbon | |
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| Nitrogen | |
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| Phosphorus | |
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| Arsenic | |
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| Oxygen | |
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| Sulfur | |
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| Selenium | |
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| Fluorine | |
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| Chlorine | |
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| Iodine | |
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| Radon | |
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| Natural and Unnatural Molecules in the Environment | |
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| Perilous Natural Toxins | |
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| Aphrodisiacs | |
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| Pheromones | |
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| Man-Made Chemicals in the Environment | |
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| Insecticides | |
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| Gasoline additives | |
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| Is the Sky Falling?? | |
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| Acid Rain | |
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| Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect | |
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| The greenhouse gases | |
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| Water vapor | |
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| Carbon dioxide | |
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| Methane | |
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| Freons | |
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| Nitrous oxide, laughing gas | |
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| Other natural causes of global warming | |
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| The Ozone Hole | |
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| Dust, Magnets, and Scuba Diving | |
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| Small Particles (Dust Can Be Dangerous) | |
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| Electromagnetic Fields (Are Electric Blankets Dangerous?) | |
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| Sunlight | |
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| Chemical photosensitivity | |
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| Inherited photosensitivity | |
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| Underwater Dangers (Scuba Diving) | |
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| We Are All Radioactive! | |
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| Radiation in Nature | |
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| Irradiation of Food | |
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| Epilogue: There Is No Free Lunch! | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Index | |