They Poisoned the World

“Investigative journalist Blake’s riveting and horrifying book documents the effect of PFAS, a class of synthetic chemicals that have been linked to a litany of cancers and other illnesses, on towns in West Virginia and New York. Her deft chronicle of a moral scandal has the propulsion of a thriller and a message about corporate malfeasance that none of us can afford to miss.”—The Washington Post

“An epic of science writing … This book will likely leave you horrified and enraged. But reckoning with the truth—no matter how stomach-turning—is the first step toward justice.”— Scientific American

“They Poisoned the World will inevitably be likened to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring… . Blake’s book, a masterly exposé of the chemicals known as PFAS … is critical reading for us all.”—American Scholar

“A crackling David vs. Goliath story … [Blake’s] impressive research provides damning evidence of PFAS manufacturers’ callous indifference. Readers will be outraged.”—Publishers Weekly

“Impeccably researched and outrageous both in the scope of [corporate] malfeasance and the efforts of those who support it, the narrative never strays from its relentless documentation of the generational price paid for our decades of lax regulation. A must-read.”—Booklist, starred review

“A sharp-edged report on the world that toxic chemicals—and their manufacturers—have made.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A powerfully written narrative that needs to be shared widely.”—Library Journal

“The insidious compounds we now call ‘forever chemicals’ deserve a forever chronicle, and this is surely it. Mariah Blake has written the definitive account of a slow-motion catastrophe and the everyday heroes who fought to bring it to light.”—Dan Fagin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Toms River

“They Poisoned the World is a brilliant and damning investigation of the global chemical industry and the devious methods it employed to promote its risky products. While it is often an enraging book, it is not a despairing one. People in this story stand up, fight, and make a difference. In this troubled moment in our environmental history that makes this book something exceptional—not just insightful but inspiring.”—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Poison Squad

“The story of a small town struggling with the global disaster that is ‘forever chemicals,’ They Poisoned the World is at once fascinating, enraging, and heartbreaking.”—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Under a White Sky

“They Poisoned the World is a powerful and bighearted book about the hunt for an invisible killer that lives in your kitchen, your water, your clothes, and all around you. Reading it will scare the plastic out of your life. It will also fill you with awe for the courageous residents of a small town who took on a powerful industry that is turning our world into a toxic stew.”—Jeff Goodell, author of The Heat Will Kill You First

“A poignant and pressing account of one of industrial society’s great secrets. We would do well to pay attention to the evidence that [Mariah Blake] has marshalled.”—Clayton Page Aldern, author of The Weight of Nature

Mariah Blake is an investigative journalist whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, The New Republic, and other publications. She was a Murrey Marder Nieman Fellow in Watchdog Journalism at Harvard University.

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