The Poisoning of an American High SchoolThe Poisoning of an American High School is a feat of investigative reportage and the product of four years of research by award-winning journalist Joy Horowitz. Making lucid the tangled issues of public health, regulation, and the political power of industry, it tells a riveting tale ripped from newspaper headlines about a cancer cluster affecting graduates of one of America's most affluent schools, Beverly Hills High.

The Poisoning of an American High School presents the behind-the-scenes saga of the 2003 landmark toxic tort suit, in which more than one thousand plaintiffs, with the sensational Erin Brockovich as their champion, claimed their illnesses could be traced to exposure to the oil derricks just yards from school grounds.

 

Horowitz raises important alarms. . . . [A] fierce, penetrating, vibrant challenge, wisely telling all of us to be aware—and to care.

Barry Siegel, Pulitzer Prize–winning director of the Literary Journalism Program, UC Irvine, and author of Lines of Defense

 

A remarkable page-turner . . . No one escapes her scrutiny; all get to tell their stories. Yet behind the individual human sagas there’s a bigger story about economic power and health risk that reaches far beyond the confines of one of America’s iconic small towns.

Tom Graff, California director, Environmental Defense

 

Order the book

The Poisoning of an American High School was orignally published under the title
Parts Per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School in the Hardback Edition

Pin it
Back to top