We’re surrounded by manmade chemicals, from bits of dust in the air we breathe to the fabrics we wear. Not all are dangerous, though. Toxicologists like John Whysner, Ph.D. have the difficult task of determining which ones might be. The author of The Alchemy of Disease: How Chemicals and Toxins Cause Cancer and Other Illnesses got his start in toxicology studying the venom of poisonous snails at USC, home of a leading center for developing anti-venom in the 1950s. The Keck School of Medicine of USC graduate talks with writer Sarah Nightingale about the science behind harmful chemicals and fossil fuels’ effects on human health.