Skip to content
You are not logged in |Login  
     
Limit search to available items
Record:   Prev Next
Resources
More Information
Bestseller
BestsellerE-book
Author Blanc, Paul D., 1951- author.

Title Fake silk : the lethal history of viscose rayon / Paul David Blanc.

Publication Info. New Haven : Yale University Press, 2016.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xiv, 309 pages)
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series ebscodelete 2020-10-19.
Contents In the Beginning -- The Crazy Years -- Wrapped Up in Cellophane -- Body Count -- Rayon Goes to War -- The Heart of the Matter -- Rayon Will Be with Us.
Summary When a new technology makes people ill, how high does the body count have to be before protectives steps are taken? This disturbing book tells a dark story of hazardous manufacturing, poisonous materials, environmental abuses, political machinations, and economics trumping safety concerns. It explores the century-long history of "fake silk," or cellulose viscose, used to produce such products as rayon textiles and tires, cellophane, and everyday kitchen sponges. Paul Blanc uncovers the grim history of a product that crippled and even served a death sentence to many industry workers while also releasing toxic carbon disulfide into the environment. Viscose, an innovative and lucrative product first introduced in the early twentieth century, quickly became a multinational corporate enterprise. Blanc investigates industry practices from the beginning through two highly profitable world wars, the midcentury export of hazardous manufacturing to developing countries, and the current "greenwashing" of viscose as an eco-friendly product. Deeply researched and boldly presented, this book brings to light an industrial hazard whose egregious history ranks with those of asbestos, lead, and mercury.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-288) and index.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Rayon industry and trade -- Health aspects.
Rayon industry and trade -- Health aspects.
Rayon industry and trade.
Rayon -- Toxicology.
Rayon.
Viscose process.
Viscose process.
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Technical & Manufacturing Industries & Trades.
Toxicology.
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Textiles & Polymers.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Blanc, Paul David. Fake silk. New Haven : Yale University Press, ©2016 9780300204667
ISBN 9780300224887 (electronic book)
0300224885 (electronic book)
0300204663
9780300204667