Disastrous developments

DVD 1 – Lead for life (the history of leaded petrol). This is the story of how the big oil companies added lead to petrol from the 1920s onwards in full knowledge of its negative effect on health. The hundreds of thousands of tons of lead that entered the atmosphere impaired the brain function of millions.

DVD 2 – An immortal poison (the history of PCB). In the 1920s PCBs were considered to be wonder-materials. Their fire resistance, electrical insulation and ability to make other materials more pliable led to use in applications such as paint, concrete and white goods. In the 1970s PCBs were found to have entered the food chain where they were wreaking a devastating effect on animal and human organisms. They were banned, but it was too late. PCBs continue to cause harm to this day.

DVD 3 – The last antibiotics (the history of antibiotics). Penicillin could cure people of the most dreaded infections. But abuse and overuse allowed pathogenic bacteria to outwit it. Today resistant bacteria are winning the battle against antibiotics as a whole and the development of new medicines has slowed almost to a standstill.