Monday, May 31, 2010

ZOMG! We're All Gonna Die, Part ???

5 toxics that are everywhere: Protect yourself
(CNN) -- A growing body of research is linking five chemicals -- among the most common in the world -- to a host of ailments, including cancer, sexual problems and behavioral issues.

We encounter them every day -- in plastic bottles, storage containers, food wrap, cans, cookware, appliances, carpets, shower curtains, clothes, personal care products, furniture, television sets, electronics, bedding, cushions and mattresses. In short, every room in almost every house in the United States is likely to contain at least one of these chemicals, many of which did not exist a century ago.
Got that? These deadly poisons are IN YOUR HOME RIGHT NOW ZOMG AND THEY WILL KILL YOU D-E-D! Holy crap, could this possibly be more alarmist? Of the ZOMG FIVE DEADLY TOXICS, only one - formaldehyde - is a known carcinogen, and at that needs something to happen to the substrate to be released (i.e. you have to start chewing on the particle board or burn it first). The other items are designated as "items of concern" - and with good reason, most are bioaccumulative - but have no definitive effects proven yet. I certainly wouldn't sit down to a bisphenol A smorgasbord, but the likelihood of ill effects are as yet unclear - certainly not worth the ZOMG WE'RE GONNA DIE-type headlines.

Alar in apples.
Bovine growth hormone.
DDT.

The list of items they've panicked over for no good reason continues to grow, yet for some unknown reason we still pay these idiot eggheads heed - why?

That is all.

9 comments:

PISSED said...

Well I dont picture myself living naked in the woods eating pine needles (Im sure none of you do either) so I guess I'll have to deal with the chemicals ;)

OkieRhio said...

Hey Jay? Buddy? Pal? Sweetness? Could ya do me a lil favor here?

Yeah... STFU complaining about the alarmist stuff of this nature. It drives my business. The lemmings being afraid of everything makes my business grow!

;-)

Stingray said...

I bet you big cash money that the studies the monkeys chained to typewriters at CNN based this on states the danger along the lines of "Well, maybe. If you like, eat it while it's on fire."

This of course begs the question as to why CNN didn't report that formaldehyde tastes like burning.

Moving on though, I note that a couple of these are listed as "The EPA says...". Having dealt with said organization for pay for a while now, their tendency to overstate threats is rivaled only by Obama's tendency to throw people under the bus. When the regulation states "Can cause cancer and drowning when injected in 3 liter volumes directly to the lungs" I'm less concerned about the cancer.

Anyway, long screed short, blame the jackholes who run around chanting "If it bleeds, it leads" rather than the almost certainly non-sensational study that found "Well, maybe. If you light it on fire and eat it."

Old NFO said...

Because they're "scientists"... sigh...

They are 'certified' smart

Steve said...

These chowda heads are the offspring of the people that banned DDT because of a speculative book (silent spring). The same idiots are the on TV whining about EEE and West Nile virus here and malaria in the third world. Not a one of them can make the connection.

Jay G said...

Rhio,

Truth be told, it's good for my business, too.

In fact, before I wrote this post, I e-mailed the story to my boss...

Stingray,

Saccharine. Remember the scare over saccharine when diet drinks first came out? Remember how the "data" was obtained? IIRC, they were feeding the rats that got cancer the equivalent amount of saccharine to a human consuming several dozen gallons of diet soda every single day.

Steve,

You know what's going to happen?

Some kid's going to die because his no-longer-flame retardant jammies are going to light up like a Deadhead with a fresh bowl.

They will then run a story, with completely straight faces, claiming that the PJ manufacturers KNEW that their clothes could catch fire AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT ZOMG...

Ritchie said...

Is it sweeps week already again?

Geodkyt said...

I've seen an honest-to-God MSDS sheet on water. H2O. Dihydrogen monoxide to some people.

It was listed as an inhalation hazard.

The MSDS was in a Navy hazard tracking database.

{headdesk}

Ritchie said...

Also, this doesn't really impress those of us who played with mercury in our bare hands. And Gilbert chemistry sets with the strong oxidants.