Toxic Politicians

All Politicians Are Toxic, Claim Authors

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Politicians are toxic and have higher levels of dangerous chemicals in their bodies, according to a pair of authors who studied them.

"I want to assure you that we tested both liberal and conservative politicians, and it doesn't seem to matter," co-author Rick Smith said at a book party for "Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things" held at Busboys & Poets in the funky U Street corridor.

"It may be caused by their ... diets or the extreme amount of plane travel, so aspiring politicians take note."

Smith and co-author Bruce Lourie, two Canadian environmentalists, set out to discover what effect household chemicals have on the human body. The pair went about their experiment by ingesting and inhaling a host of household items for a week.

“We chose seven chemicals. One for every day of the week, because seven is a good number. This delighted our wives, of course," Smith said. "For two days, I actually drank out of my son's baby bottle."

So what can be done about the harmful chemicals that surround us? The authors drafted a list of 10 suggestions for how to reduce individual intake. No. 10 was contact Congress.