''Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont'' is the 2019 memoir by

Robert Bilott Robert Bilott (born August 2, 1965) is an American environmental attorney from Cincinnati, Ohio. Bilott is known for the lawsuits against DuPont on behalf of plaintiffs injured by waste dumped in rural communities in West Virginia. Bilott has spe ...

, an American environmental attorney at

Taft Stettinius & Hollister Taft Stettinius & Hollister, commonly known as "Taft", is an American, white-shoe law firm founded in Cincinnati, with offices in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Delaware, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapoli ...

. The book follows Bilott's personal and professional journey through the litigation that revealed a global crisis of persistent organic pollution due to

PFOA Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; conjugate base perfluorooctanoate; also known colloquially as C8, for its 8 carbon chain structure) is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes a ...

and

PFAS Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. An early definition, from 2011, required that they contain at least one perfluoroalkyl mo ...

, referred to as "

forever chemicals Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. An early definition, from 2011, required that they contain at least one perfluoroalkyl mo ...

." For its contribution to broadening public awareness of environmental hazard, ''Exposure'' received the 2020 Green Prize for Sustainable Literature from the

Santa Monica Public Library The Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) is the public library serving residents of Santa Monica, California and surrounding areas. SMPL is directed by a City Librarian, who reports to the Santa Monica City Manager's Office and is overseen by a Libr ...

. The book was published in the United States in 2019 by Atria Books/

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. It was released in hardcover on October 8, 2019, and in paperback on July 15, 2020. The

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

version (also available through Atria Books) is narrated by

Jeremy Bobb Jeremy Bobb (born May 13, 1981) is an American actor who has appeared on stage, television and in feature films. He had a recurring role in CBS's 2013 drama ''Hostages'' as White House Chief of Staff Quintin Creasy and co-starred as Herman Barro ...

. The first chapter narrated by actor

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorne ...

, who plays Bilott in the movie ''Dark Waters'' (2019), based on these events as reported in a 2016 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' feature article. The book was published for the United Kingdom by Simon & Schuster UK, and has been translated into Chinese for its release on the Chinese market on November 28, 2022. On April 6, 2023, the book was translated into Japanese and released on the Japanese market.

Reviews

According to writer Nathaniel Rich, writer at large for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'', the book is "An intimate account of one of the most appalling environmental crimes in modern history. ''Exposure'' is a classic story of American good and American evil—of the triumph of ingenuity, diligence, and self-sacrifice over psychopathic corporate nihilism. Rob Bilott is a hero of our time." Rich had written a 2016 feature article about Bilott and his campaign, which was published in the ''New York Times'' magazine. Gary Rivlin in the ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' described ''Exposure'' a "David and Goliath tale with a twist…. Bilott skillfully tells the story of his epic battle with DuPont." ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' said, "Leaves little doubt that year after year, the corporation misled government agencies, courts, and consumers into a false sense of security about the poisonous nature of their manufacturing processes." The ''

Law Library Journal The American Association of Law Libraries "is a nonprofit educational organization with over 5,000 members nationwide. AALL's mission is to promote and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public communities, to foster the professio ...

'' says, "''Exposure'' is an intriguing and easy-to-follow narrative that will have you up in arms about what might be in your drinking water. If you liked ''Erin Brockovich'' or ''A Civil Action,'' this book is a must-read.”

Related films

Bilott's campaign was featured in the documentary ''

The Devil We Know ''The Devil We Know'' is a 2018 investigative documentary film by director Stephanie Soechtig regarding allegations of health hazards from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, also known as C8), a key ingredient used in manufacturing Teflon, and DuPont ...

'' (2018). Rich's 2016 article about Bilott and these events in the ''

'' was adapted for the 2019 motion picture ''Dark Waters'', starring

Reviews

Related films

References

Further reading