A Poison Like No Other

How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies

By: Matt Simon

Narrated by: Adam Verner

It's in our food, our clothes, and our homes. It's microplastic and it's everywhere—including our own bodies. Scientists are just beginning to discover how these tiny particles threaten health, but the studies are alarming.

In A Poison Like No Other, Matt Simon reveals a whole new dimension to the plastic crisis. Dealing with discarded plastic is bad enough, but when it starts to break down, the real trouble begins. The very thing that makes plastic so useful and ubiquitous—its toughness—means it never really goes away. It just gets smaller and smaller: eventually small enough to enter your lungs or be absorbed by crops or penetrate a fish's muscle tissue before it becomes dinner.

Unlike other pollutants, microplastics represent a cocktail of toxicity: plastics contain at least 10,000 different chemicals. Those chemicals are linked to diseases from diabetes to hormone disruption to cancers.

A Poison Like No Other is the first book to fully explore this public health threat. As Simon learns from these researchers, there is no easy fix. But we will never curb our plastic addiction until we begin to recognize the invisible particles all around us.

©2022 Matthew Brian Simon (P)2022 Tantor

Scared me

After listening to this book, I decided that we are lost. Being somewhat of a pessimist, I can't see anyway the human race can claw it's way out of this dilemma. I just don't think we have the will.

plastic hell

it's impossible to listen to this book and not to commit to action! down with blind use of fossil poison. fantastic and important book.

Eye opening

A thoughtful and through overview of micro plastics in our environment for the non-environmental scientists in readily understandable vocabulary. Definitely a should read.

Kept me at the edge of my seat and shaking my fist

Like all of Matt Simon's books, it is great. He provides great insights and information on the escalating dangers posed by plastics. It's more than a 4-star, but I wish I could give it a 4.5. because of one point: He cites many of his figures with what I consider insufficient context to understand their magnitude, preferring to let the figures speak for themselves.

But for that one point, the book is excellent and, overall, well-researched. He carefully separates the impacts of different plastics and the effects of size, focusing on the dangers of micro and nanoplastics, their different impacts on organisms, and their medical and environmental risks.

Strongly recommended.

Sobering

Highly informative. I recommend breaking this listen up a bit as the subject matter can get a little overwhelming. If you thought you knew everything about micro plastics, think again.

Must read/listen

This book is pretty terrifying to listen to. Not sure all the science is sussed out on how bad these micro/nano plastics are, but using the precautionary principle. They can’t be good.

Fear mongering and a clickbait in print.

I was tempted to write an entire article on this book. Why? It masterfully uses state-of-the-art techniques to present information in a way that stirs up attention without technically lying. While I could list countless examples, suffice it to say, this book would make for an excellent case study in any critical thinking course. Once you peel away the layers of manufactured drama, the takeaway is simple: yes, microplastics exist, but we still have no concrete understanding of their impact - if any. In plus: it was short, factually correct, and I got it for free.