Polluting the environment leads to sickness

Fagin's, the author, underlying message throughout the book is simple: the information that polluting the environment leads to sickness is there - one only has to look for it. Fagin paints a detailed history of the study of epidemiology, environmental pollution, and industry going back hundreds of years, despite the fact that he could have simply told a series of events that happened in Toms River and that would have been enough.

Granted, information was not as easily available to the lay person as it is today. They did not have phones that could access the internet and look up information about Ciba-Geigy, leukemia, or any number of other pieces of important information. The only information the average person had was what they were told. And Fagin indicts the people who told them wrong information. The Toms River Water Company did not tell...