It’s the New Year and a time when many of us think about shedding a few pounds. A new book explores the science of environmental chemical exposures to humans and the possible link to increased weight gain. Author Pat Thomas details 11 chemicals that can increase our waist line in “The 21st Century is Making you Fat” including the potent and plentiful chemical found in coal tar pavement sealant, benzo(a)pyrene, aka BaP.
While BaP can be found in a variety of sources from cooked meat, to air pollution, no common source is more concentrated and available than coal tar pavement sealant. So the next time your jeans are a little tight, you might want to figure out what chemical is on your driveway.
A review of this book can be found at The Ecologist website.