Choked

"[An] arresting account of one of the biggest environmental threats to human health." —Scientific American

Air pollution prematurely kills seven million people every year, including more than one hundred thousand Americans. It is strongly linked to strokes, heart attacks, many kinds of cancer, dementia, and premature birth, among other ailments. In Choked, Beth Gardiner travels the world to tell the story of this modern-day plague, taking readers from the halls of power in Washington and the diesel-fogged London streets to Poland's coal heartland and India's gasping capital. In a gripping narrative, she exposes the political decisions and economic forces that have kept so many of us breathing dirty air. This is a moving, up-close look at the human toll, where we meet the scientists who have transformed our understanding of pollution's effects on the body and the ordinary people fighting for a cleaner future.


"A compelling book about a critical subject." —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sixth Extinction

"Illuminates some disturbing realities, but it also gives us hope by showing us what we can do to clean our air. . . . An urgent, essential read." —Arnold Schwarzenegger


"Moving . . . By putting a human face on a problem of environmental chemistry, Gardiner shows us the devastation up close, creating a sense of dismay but also urgency to improve lives." —Washington Post

"Timely, eloquent, and disturbing." —Nature

"You couldn't ask for a better guide for nonspecialists and concerned citizens." —Guardian, Best Book of the Year


"Remarkable." —Science

"Brilliantly reported and beautifully written." —Anna Clark, author of The Poisoned City