ACSH received deafening criticism from some of our friends regarding our handling of the Not Empty Noise story yesterday, in which we wondered why the European Union isn't warning spectators at World Cup soccer games about the dangers of possible hearing loss from plastic horns known as vuvuzelas. Stier explains, We should have expressed more skepticism towards the referenced hearing loss study, as many of you rightly advised. However, we did not intend to give a free ride to that study.

Given the ubiquitous media coverage of the BP oil disaster, Stier believes there is an important lesson to be learned by Big Oil and other science-based industries:

While the FDA is determining whether to approve Boehringer Ingelheim s flibanserin, a pill targeting hypoactive sexual desire disease (HSDD) in women, The New York Times questions whether such a condition only exists as a fabrication by the pharmaceutical industry. NYU psychologist Dr. Leonore Tiefer tells the paper she believes in the validity of HSDD, but worries that the pill would give women with non-HSDD related sexual dissatisfaction false hopes.

It’s the 12th annual Junk Science Week in Canada, and the Financial Post is calling for science, not politics, to determine the merit behind salt reduction policies. Dr. David McCarron, visiting professor at the University of California, Davis and executive director of Shaping America’s Youth, writes that human physiology already dictates our salt intake:

Yesterday, your humble scribe revealed the fallacies in an Environmental Protection Agency s Formaldehyde Toxicity draft document on formaldehyde toxicity for an article posted on ACSH s Health Facts and Fears:

Scientists at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published a study in the Journal of American Medical Association documenting a correlation between elevated blood levels of vitamin B6 and methionine, an amino acid, and a reduced risk of lung cancer in smokers, former smokers and never-smokers.

In a radical new law approved in San Francisco on Tuesday, retailers will be required to display the amount of radiation each cell phone emits, even though there’s no conclusive scientific evidence that these devices pose any health risks.

As soccer fans around the world stay glued to their TVs to cheer on their favorite teams in the World Cup, those actually present at the games may be singing a sadder tune. Hear the World, a foundation launched by Swiss hearing-aid maker Phonak AG, warns that vuvuzelas, plastic horns favored by South African soccer fans and used during games, reach dangerously loud levels.

ACSH staffers offer an honorary seat at the table to Dr.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is revamping the government’s popular food pyramid, with new recommendations emphasizing plant-based diets with plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk products and a reduction in daily sodium intake. The committee now recommends consuming no more than 1,500 mg of sodium; the current standard is 2,300 mg.