Toxic Soup (2010)

"Toxic Soup" shares the stories of everyday Americans fighting to keep their blood, water and air safe from pollution. In Parkersburg, West Virginia, school teacher Joe Kiger uncovers C8, an unregulated chemical, in his community's drinking water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, C8 can be found in 96 percent of Americans' blood. In Institute, WV, an explosion at the Bayer plant kills two plant workers and comes within 80 feet of a stockpile of MIC, the chemical responsible for the world's worst industrial accident in Bhopal, India, which has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 people to date. In Louisville, KY, west-end resident Eboni Cochran petitions city council to set standard operating procedures for chemical leak and odor investigations in the Rubbertown district. She has been petitioning for more than five years. In eastern Kentucky, nationally known radiation safety officer Wade Smith takes us on a tour of Ashland's radioactive oil fields where local residents are diagnosed with brain tumors at alarming rates. In Mingo County, WV, attorney Kevin Thompson and pastor Larry Brown expose dangerous toxins and chemicals in local well water due to Massey Energy's negligent disposal of coal slurry. Outside Arlington, VA, Vicky Debold, who holds doctorates in nursing and public health, questions whether or not her son's autism is the result of a reaction between his vaccines and the man-made chemical soup in his bloodstream. According to the CDC, 148 industrial chemicals lurk in the blood of the average American. Along the way we crash the DuPont annual shareholders meeting, march with autism advocate Jim Carrey in Washington DC, pull a political prank on Hillary Clinton, interview filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and ask Bill Clinton about the connection between chemicals and autism.