Brush with Death

Christian Warren is the Academy Historian at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Fascinating and stimulating... Brush with Death examines in an interesting and parallel fashion the evolution of thought and actions regarding occupational exposure to lead, lead poisoning during childhood, and the main population-wide risk of exposure to airborne lead from automobiles. -- J. Routt Reigart, M.D. New England Journal of Medicine For those interested in the history of medicine and particularly, public health and epidemiology, this is a must read. Journal of the American Medical Association It is a chilling story, with morals for other countries too. New Scientist A rich, nuanced discussion of Americans' use of lead and the resulting struggle with the harmful effects of this powerful poison that insidiously permeated American culture and Americans' bodies. -- Scott Hamilton Dewey American Historical Review In this highly engaging study, Christian Warren develops a broad critique of the lead industries, gas and paint manufacturers, and the scientific authorities who, for the most part, worked for them in the twentieth century. -- Jared N. Day Journal of American History Thorough and convincing... Brush with Death should become a starting point for those interested in the postwar history of lead, environmental health, and pediatrics. -- Christopher Sellers Bulletin of the History of Medicine A deft intertwining of discussion of industry's promotion of lead products as essential components of the modern lifestyle with consideration of the halting progress of medicine in clarifying the toxicology of lead and recognizing signs of lead poisoning in patients... It is a well-organized and readable account of the evolution of a major twentieth-century health threat and a valuable addition to environmental history. -- James Whorton Environmental History The strength of this book is the historical policy analysis and the impact this could have on current policy debate over environmental pollution. -- Carolyn Leonard Carson Journal of Social History Today, in city after city, landlords, tenants, and local governments each seek to hold one another responsible, both fiscally and legally, for ensuring that children are not poisoned in their own homes. Warren's book is critically important because he opens up this discussion, examining the roles and policies of public health officials and the lead industry itself in creating these deadly problems... As a study of one of the most significant occupational and environmental hazards in U.S. history and the policy debates it has engendered, Brush with Death deserves to be read by a wide audience. -- Gerald Markowitz Health Affairs Not only is Brush with Death an excellent knowledge source for anyone interested in lead poisoning, it is also an informative historical account of a national industry gone bad. Want to get the lead out?-Here's documentation of all the motivation you need! Veterinary and Human Toxicology This fascinating book held me in its clutches from the Introduction and all the way through until the end. -- Ronald B. Mack, M.D. Journal of Toxicology

• Contents: List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction - What's Lead in the Bone... Chapter 1: Plumbing the Depths Chapter 2: Childhood Lead Poisoning before 1930 Chapter 3: Toxic Purity: How the United States Became a Nation of White-Leaders Chapter 4: Occupational Lead Poisoning in the Progressive Era Chapter 5: Protecting Workers and Profits in the Lead Industries Chapter 6: Company Doctors on the Job Chapter 7: Introducing Leaded Gasoline Chapter 8: Defining Childhood Lead Poisoning as a Disease of Poverty Chapter 9: Urban Physicians Discover the Silent Epidemic Chapter 10: The Screaming Epidemic Chapter 11: Facing the Consequences of Leaded Gasoline Chapter 12: The Rise and Fall of Universal Childhood Lead Screening Chapter 13: Regulating "Low-Level" Lead Poisoning Appendix - Reports on Lead PoisoningNotes Index