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| Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You by David Ropeik and George Gray
Key Features: • 50 top hazards • your likelihood of exposure • the consequences • ways to reduce your risk The book covers topics such as • cancer • biological weapons • indoor air pollution • pesticides • radiation Technical Specs:
Sample Entry: Not far behind fires as an accidental cause of death is suffocation from unintentional inhalation of food or other objects that block the trachea—in other words, choking to death, which kills 1.2 U.S. residents per 100,000 annually. Though much attention is paid to this risk for children, it is actually the elderly who are most often the victims. Of the 3,400 U.S. residents who died this way in the year 2000, 2,600 were 65 or older. Experts don't have a good explanation for this phenomenon. Some think it may be caused by problems some elderly people have with chewing their food completely, the effects of dentures on chewing and swallowing, the effects of previous neurological events like stroke, or weaker chest muscles with which to expel something that begins to obstruct the trachea. |
