The Human Experiment

In the eye opening documentary, The Human Experiment, directed by Don Hardy and Dana Nachman, the many health dangers of thousands of harmful chemicals in everyday products are exposed. The film explores the lives of people who have been affected by the ubiquitous chemicals found in our food and our homes. The film addresses the battle against powerful industries that are determined to keep consumers in the dark about the dangers of many of their products. The fight against dangerously lethal chemicals used in everyday products, such as makeup and shaving cream, continues. The narrative soon enough turns to the economic and political forces behind the overall situation. The film includes interviews with doctors, researchers, and journalists
Many products on the market today are harmful to humans. Chemical usage has gone up almost 2000% over the last 100 years. The documentary begins by presenting startling health statistics such as, “In 1999, 1 in 500 kids had autism. Today, 1 in 88 have autism” (0:05) and, “Since 1975, breast cancer rates have gone up thirty percent for both men and women” (0:02). The documentarians’ usage of both logos and pathos create an effective argument towards the documentarians’ side of the argument. The percentages don’t just stop there either. The frequency of brain cancer, asthma, leukemia, ADHD, birth defects all have increased within the last hundred years and the list goes on and on. The statistics used instantly catch the viewers’ attention and make the overall issue clear. The directors then propose the question, “What is the main reason for the increase in many different causes today even with healthy diets and no family history?” The film soon makes the answer clear. Chemicals in household products are a main cause of the increased risk of diseases. The products produced by these large industrial companies are harmful to human health. In addition, companies do not have to prove that a chemical is safe before it enters the market. There is almost nothing to protect the
Thousands of chemicals have been introduced into our society over the last one hundred years. From furniture to the makeup and shaving cream used every day, nearly everything has at least one chemical proven to cause health issues. These new chemicals, which were not around hundreds of years ago, are exposed to our body’s daily. Forty-two billion pounds of these dangerous chemicals enter American commerce daily. The film moves from presenting health issues to showing how there is a movement towards solving some of them. Green chemistry has grown greatly and is a step towards solving this issue. Green chemistry was a 2.7 billion-dollar industry in 2015. Many companies, of all kind, use green chemistry to reduce harmful chemicals in their products. Although some companies are moving towards a possible solution to this question, many companies are not and the fight for healthy products continues. In conclusion, the documentarian’s use of rhetorical devices was effective and persuades the viewer to recognize the issue regarding the millions of dangerous chemicals in products we use daily. If companies were to use healthier alternatives in their products, in addition to tougher legislation limiting which chemicals are allowed on the market, the issue could be