KingHomoToxicus

=**Homo Toxicus ** = (2007) Director: Carole Poliquen

===**Central Argument/Narrative ** === "Generally acceptable risk" has entered American and Canadian culture as the norm for toxin exposure. Like climate change, no one knows the actually breaking point. In the United States and Canada policy is reactionary whereas in the European Union it is precautionary. The film follows director and producer Carole Poliquen as she tries to comprehends how her lifestyle is associated with her personal toxin intake.

****Matrix of Sustainability Problems ****
Industrialization has increased the level of PCBs in the atmosphere. Concentrations are highest nearer to the earth's poles affecting communities like the Inuit. The Inuit are experiencing a huge increase in the number of ear infections in youth and permanent hearing problems in children.

Pollutants, like PDBE, are found in electronics, plastics, and toys leading to increased cases of ADHD and hyperactivity. Studies also show that today schools have twice as many poor performing students and half as many talented students.

Atrazine, a compound banned in the E.U., is still widely considered safe in the U.S. and is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Funding for more research is low to non-existent illustrating the government-corporate web of the matrix of sustainability problems.

****Persuasive & Compelling ****
An animation of the relationship between fish and mercury consumption is quickly cut to a live action shot of Poliquen eating fish. This is a compelling example of how our everyday actions and decisions easily affect our toxin intake.

The comparison of Inuit schoolchildren with great hearing issues to the urban Montreal schoolchildren with many cases of ADD and ADHD is a persuasive piece of evidence. Today's industrial practices are effecting all people of the world urban to rural and rich to poor.

The First Nation affected by the St. Lawrence River pollution has many health problems. The chart displayed of the ailments of boys compared to girls is a very powerful visual.

Lastly, the scene where the producer sets up a table in Montreal accosting street-goers with food "Approved by Health Canada!" is great. It is witty, compelling, interesting, and persuasive. It causes people to pause and think about what is actually in their food.

===**Environmental Educational Value ** === This film is great at increasing the awareness of how everyday decisions affect one's personal toxin intake. Something every viewer should take away is proposed by a Berkley professor in the movie. He notes that agrichemicals were banned in Europe nation by nation and then in the E.U. as a whole. Is this a strategy that can be implemented in the U.S. state by state?

Points of Intervention
The EPA needs to step up its game on contaminants. Each chemical is different, and adequate research needs to be done for accurate decisions to be made.

The E.U. banned many hormones in 1988 for beef production; the U.S. and Canada still use it! How is the body chemistry of Europeans and North Americans so different that this is justified?

**Seek Out New Information **
Atrazine in public water supplies <@http://www.nrdc.org/health/atrazine/> Three scientists fired by Health Canada for opposing rBGH <@http://beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/regulatory-matters/whistleblowers-health-canada-fired>