Shane Ellison, the self-proclaimed "People's Chemist," has a lot to say about chemistry, drugs, and vaccines. Let's see if he knows what he's talking about.
Every now and then a quack dope misinformed individual needs to be called out. Joe "Crazy Joe" Mercola, perhaps the most dangerous purveyor of internet health misinformation, has been in the ACSH cross hairs numerous times, as have the mega-deranged Mike (the Health Ranger) Adams, and Dr. "Superfoods" Oz. Their entry to the "ACSH Hall of Shame" has been earned many times over. Now it's time for a new inductee, Shane Ellison, a seriously flipped out dude who calls himself "The People's Chemist."
It is especially disturbing that Ellison actually has some, albeit modest, credentials behind his name: A bachelor's degree in biology from Fort Lewis College and (gasp) a master's degree in chemistry from Northern Arizona University. While the list of Nobel laureates from these institutions is quite short (1), Ellison should at least have some idea of what he's talking about. Or not. Which brings up four obvious scenarios:
- Ellison knows what he's talking about, but misuses this information in order to sell his own collections of nutritional supplements. More on that later.
Source: The People's Chemist Store
2. Ellison doesn't have the wildest idea what he's talking about and is just making a bunch of s### up.
3. Ellison needs a little vacation in a Rubber Ramada
4. All of these.
Which, if any, are correct? You decide. I'll get things started by looking at a few "facts" from his Straight Talk page. If you find it difficult to keep a straight face while reading this you're not alone.
Sodium stupidity and blowing up airplanes: A preview of things to come.
"Elemental sodium is shiny, pliable, and can blow up your lab in seconds."
This is the only thing he got right. A golf ball-sized piece of sodium chucked into water will go off like a bomb.
"[E]lemental sodium can do many things: purify your lab creations, convert fat to anti-viral soap, or de-ice your plane before it flies over the snowy mountains of Colorado."
Hoo boy. Everything here is wrong. First, after 35 years in the lab, I cannot think of a single instance where even one single chemist purified any "lab creation" using elemental sodium. Zero. No, sodium will destroy pretty much everything that a chemist would make in a lab. Second, it is sodium hydroxide (lye), not elemental sodium, that converts fat to soap. There is a huge difference between the two, something Ellison must (or should) know. Third, no – elemental sodium is NOT used to de-ice airplanes. Blowing up plane wings is not standard procedure. (This is really done spraying the planes with hot ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, which are both antifreeze chemicals.) A thermonuclear bomb would also de-ice a plane. This isn't used either. Duh.
Let's examine one of these errors in graphic form:
(Left) Shane Ellison decides to use elemental sodium (sodium metal) to clean up his reaction product. (Right) It does not go well. His astronomy isn't so hot either. Images: YouTube, Wikimedia Commons
Bottom line: Except for sodium blowing up "The People's Chemist" is wrong about everything, especially airplane deicing, where he delves into madness.
Vaccine ignorance
"On November 18, 2020, Pfizer issued a press release saying their COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective “for the prevention of coronavirus disease..."
It was just that.
"No virus had been isolated, no double-blind studies had been performed..."
Not exactly: See "SARS-CoV-2 Viral Culturing at CDC" - and- "This is a Phase 1/2/3, randomized, placebo-controlled, observer-blind, dose-finding, vaccine candidate-selection, and efficacy study in healthy individuals." Source: ClinicalTrials.gov
"[A]nd not a single government agency had sifted through any research results."
Again, nonsense. The FDA went through 340,000 pages of data before it granted Pfizer Emergency Use Authorization.
Bottom line: I could not find a single correct fact on his page. Zero.
Vaccine madness
"This charade of creating demand to sell poisons mirrored the horrific use of Zyklon B for “Jewish resettlement.” This time, they were justifying it with “science,” which is hilarious to me considering everyone I knew in high school and college avoided science like the plague." [emphasis mine]
1. There are no words in the English language that adequately describe how wrong it is to compare a miracle vaccine to the gas chambers in Nazi Germany. Ellison ought to be ashamed of himself, assuming that he has any capacity to feel shame.
2. It would seem that Ellison joined his friends while they avoided science like the plague.
"[T]he Pfizer shot is an experimental medicine, perhaps even gene therapy, since it doesn’t carry a weak or dead virus.
Big. Fat. Lie. In no way is the mRNA vaccine "gene therapy." They are entirely different, especially since gene therapy modifies your genes and the vaccine cannot. (2)
"The reported COVID deaths are nothing more than fake news being pumped out by profit-hungry ad agencies worldwide, bought and paid for by the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC), especially the CDC."
Original Image: HalloweenCostumes.com
Exactly what expertise does The People's Chemist possess?
He's really good at selling overpriced "health-related" crap on the Internet. Here are a couple of examples.
1. Serotonin FX
Ellison sells Serotonin FX, despite the fact that it contains no serotonin. Why not call it aspirin or Froot Loops instead? Perhaps he meant to say that tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin. Or not. He doesn't even mention this.
2. PreWorkout
I'm not sure about what PreWorkout is supposed to accomplish, but whatever it is, it does so without chemicals! That is until you look at the label where you will see no fewer than 5 chemicals as well as extracts, which probably contain dozens more, if not hundreds.
Same Old
Ellison should sell used cars. If you watch one of his videos he's very convincing, especially if you have no scientific knowledge whatsoever. In the end, he's just another supplements huckster with a pretty website.
NOTES
(1) Holding steady at zero.
(2) See Chance That COVID-19 Vaccines Are Gene Therapy? 'Zero' on the WebMD site.
