When Canadian filmmaker Barri Cohen discovers that her ten-year-old daughter’s blood carries carcinogens like benzene and the long-banned DDT, she travels to toxic hotspots to uncover startling clusters of deadly diseases. Juxtaposing interviews with affected families and experts with startling facts and footage, this film offers evidence that industrialized countries are conducting large-scale toxicological experiments on their children.
In the southern Ontario cities of Windsor and Sarnia, everyone seems to know children who have suffered from respiratory illnesses, leukemia, and brain tumors. And the Native Canadian reserve of Aamjiwnaang, ringed by Sarnia’s “Chemical Valley”, has an astounding birth rate problem that officials can’t afford to ignore.
As childhood cancer rates skyrocket, Cohen meets dedicated activists working for change and doctors and scientists connecting the dots between environmental pollution and illness. She also learns how fast barriers can go up when posing questions to federal authorities about toxins and health—and how much information the government obscures from its citizens about public health. Empowering and moving, TOXIC TRESPASS is one woman’s quest for truth and essential viewing for anyone concerned about pollutants’ growing effects on our and our children’s lives.