She never oversteps the bounds of what is really known, what is suspected but unproven, and what is merely informed speculation. The book is, first, a detective story. Steingraber investigates Tazewell County, Illinois, where she grew up, looking for clues to the rare bladder cancer that she herself contracted at age 20. It is also a thorough scientific treatise on the relationship of cancer-causing chemicals to human and animal health. Immigrants soon exhibit the cancer rates of their adopted countries, rather than the cancer rates of the place where they were born.
Maps show more cancers in urban than rural areas.
Maps show more cancers in rural counties with heavy pesticide use than in those with low pesticide use. Individual studies reveal cancer clusters near chemical factories and near particularly polluted rivers, valleys, and dumps. Rates of childhood cancers are rising. Yet childhood cancers are steadily rising. Fish and shellfish living in polluted water have increased cancer rates.