Description: In the 1978 Love Canal toxic waste crisis, concerned citizens not only alerted government officials to the presence of serious health problems in their community, but also "did a far better job of evaluating the health of the community than did the professionals of the New York Health Department", asserts Marvin Legator. In Chemical Alert! A Community Action Handbook, he and coeditor Sabrina Strawn offer a step-by-step guide that can be used by any lay person or citizens' group to determine whether a health risk exists in their area. Writing for the general reader with no scientific expertise, environmental, medical, and legal professionals instruct communities on the organizing and investigative techniques that will produce a valid, scientific case study. The book opens with a summary of known health hazards and their effects and goes on to discuss the techniques of organizing a community to conduct a scientific health survey. A large portion of the book is devoted to methods of data gathering and sample questionnaires, as well as instructions on how to interpret the collected data. The book concludes with vital information on how to get help from state and federal agencies and includes a lengthy guide to resources. With these tools, citizens living near petrochemical plants or waste disposal areas - or who may have simply noticed a high incidence of certain health problems in their community - can determine for themselves whether a problem really exists and seek remediation. Given the reality that government agencies often lack the resources - or the will - to detect health hazards before they affect a community, an informed citizenry should be its own best environmental watchdog.Recently revised and updated, Chemical Alert! A Community Action Handbook was first published in 1985 as The Health Detective's Handbook by the Johns Hopkins University Press. Both editors are affiliated with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in the division of environmental toxicology of the department of preventive medicine and community health. Marvin S. Legator is a professor of preventive medicine and community health and director of the division. Sabrina F. Strawn is the director of the toxics assistance program.

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