Carey Gillam, who is an accomplished investigative journalist and author, will read from her sensational new exposé that reveals a common killer proverbially hiding in plain sight.

The Prairie Lights reading of Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science will take place at 7 p.m. today at the bookstore, 15 S. Dubuque St. This event is sponsored by the Public Policy Center.

Whitewash focuses on the dangerous effects of the glyphosate herbicide known commercially as Roundup. The pesticide had been thought of as safe for many years and used for everything from killing weeds to maintaining golf courses. However, evidence has demonstrated that glyphosate can lead to a multitude of cancers and other adverse health effects; such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

In Whitewash, Gillam focuses on telling the testimony of farm families with members who have contracted cancer or other diseases, believed to be caused by glyphosate. She also introduces readers to scientists who have been ostracized from their profession because they spoke out against the corporations that sold this product. Many of the corporations that sell glyphosate have maintained for years that it is perfectly safe for humans, and they have worked to conceal the amount of pesticides present in our food, according to the book.

In an interview, Gillam said she wants to see balance and she wishes people understood the effects of the chemicals.

“My message is not that all pesticides should be banned, and I’m not denying that many synthetic pesticides bring rewards to farmers and aid in food production,” she said. “I’m simply calling for balance and full truth and transparency regarding the risks. Without factual information about the risks, our policymakers, our consumers, our farmers, etc. … cannot make informed decisions about actions that directly affect our health and the health of our environment.”

Gillam has worked as a journalist for 25 years, and since 1998, she has focused largely on investigating corporations and their connections to agriculture. She looks mostly at biotech crop technology, agrichemicals and pesticide development, and the environmental impact of agriculture on American food production. She has written for HuffPost and Reuters, is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and North American Agricultural Journalists, and is the research director for U.S. Right to Know, a consumer group focused on transparency in food production.

Gillam has been invited to speak about the issue at a committee hearing of the European Parliament in October and in front of Democratic staffers from the House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee. She will be featured in a new documentary about pesticides due to come out this summer.

Prairie Lights event coordinator Kathleen Johnson said she believes the reading is important for the community because of the large food industry rooted in Iowa’s culture.

“People in Iowa City are very interested in books that have to do with sustainable farming, caring for the environment, public health, and there is great concern over what big-business food industry does that puts profit before the common good,” she said. “We are happy to partner with the UI Public Policy Center on hosting this reading, because Carey Gillam’s book tells a sickening truth about a commonly used weed-killer, glyphosate.”

David Cwiertny, the director of the Environmental Policy Research Program, said he believes it is important to have Gillam read because Iowa is one of the biggest users of glyphosate in the U.S. and possibly one of the biggest in the world.

The University of Iowa, Cwiertny said, has several studies invested in the use of glyphosate.

“There are several researchers and research centers at UI that are focused on the human health and environmental impacts of pesticides, including glyphosate … The Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at Iowa is also a leader on these issues and has supported research at the University of Iowa related to the occurrence of pesticides like neonicotinoids in drinking water, both in Iowa City and on the University of Iowa campus.”

When: 7p.m. today

Where: Prairie Lights, 15S Dubuque