If you want to look for the day when chemophobia - an irrational fear of harmless trace chemicals - came into being, September 6th, 1958 has to be in the running.
On that day, the Food Additives Amendment of 1958, a modification of the United States' Food, Drugs, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, went into force. It was called the Delaney Clause, after Congressman James Delaney of New York, who pushed for it due to reasons that remain unclear (1). Prior to the modification, the United States'...
Once again the press (and a whole bunch of scientists) got it wrong. Halfway anyhow.
After years of debate, the FDA finally made the decision to ban antibacterial hand soaps. Good for them. The soaps are worthless, and possibly harmful, something I wrote about in 2015.
The decision makes perfect sense, especially if you consider the risks and benefits of triclosan, the bacteria-killing chemical which is now banned from hand soap. Triclosan containing soaps did nothing more to prevent disease than washing your hands with plain old soap. If the benefit of adding a chemical is zero, then the risk to benefit ratio is automatically infinity, even if the chemical in question has even a...
Following the FDA s recent decision not to ban bisphenol A (BPA), this week another governmental agency has made another scientifically sound decision in the face of unfounded claims that a given chemical poses dangers to the American public. On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to withdraw federal approval of the widely used herbicide 2,4-D.
Since it was initially approved in the 1940s, 2,4-D has become one of the world s most widely used agricultural weed-killers. But despite its long history of safe use, the NRDC filed a petition in 2008, calling for the EPA...
•"The Scariest Health Threat You've Never Heard Of: Autoimmune Disease," from the September 2008 issue of Glamour, quoted Jeff Stier saying, "People want to blame chemicals where they don't have another explanation for the cause of a disease. I think we need more psychologists rather than more toxicologists."
•The September 29, 2008 New York Sun piece "Salt Is Next on City's Hit List" quoted Dr. Gilbert Ross likening New York City's anti-salt plans to the trans fat ban.
•The Pediatric Pointers column by Dr. Carolyn Roy-Bornstein of the Haverhill Gazette on September 25, 2008 quoted ACSH's reassurances on phthalates, in a piece entitled "Plasticizers and Children's Health" ( http...
It's not often that I have a whole lot of positive things to say about the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). But there's no denying that they can make an effective scare video. And even though it's a bunch of BS, it sure is well done.
But for a group that makes a whole lot of money - more than 100-times what ACSH does - you might think that they could afford to find a decent scientist or two somewhere. I mean, their corporate officers sure do well enough...
And so do a bunch of other people...
Dr. Ross on the Airwaves
ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross will join Vicki McKenna on her radio show, NewsTalk 1310 WIBA, at 5:06 pm (EST) to talk about the Wisconsin State Senate's passage of a BPA ban. Tune in at 1310 AM where her show broadcasts, or listen online at http://www.wiba.com/main.html.
ACSH in School
ACSH staffers were alerted yesterday that our original publication A Citizen's Guide to Terrorism Preparedness and Response...
Health scares seem to lurk around every corner these days. From "toxic" pesticides to "ultra-processed" foods and BPA, the list of things that can supposedly kill us is endless. How do you spot genuine threats amid all the clickbait? Join us each week on the Science Dispatch Podcast and we'll show you how it's done.
On this debut episode, our directors of medicine and bio-science, Dr. Chuck Dinerstein and Cameron English, break down two recent stories about alcohol consumption and lead exposure.
The public has increasingly become jaded about the efforts of environmental groups and anti-science activists to raise money by promoting fear and doubt.
Since Rachel Carson first shot to popularity with a book claiming that a pesticide, DDT, was ruining the environment (still cited by people who really want to believe someone sprayed DDT, got cancer and died 6 months later, though Professor I. L. Baldwin, professor of agricultural bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin, who led the National Academy of Sciences committee studying pesticides and wildlife and reviewed the book in Science called it a prosecuting attorney s impassioned plea for action) no effort has been spared to get a lot of things banned.
Fast forward to Population Bombs lamented by Dr. Paul...
Following an FDA investigation which found trace amounts of a contaminant — an aromatase inhibitor — in the “muscle building” supplement ArimaDex, the manufacturer Genetic Edge Technology voluntarily pulled the supplement off the market. Aromatase inhibitors are a class of drugs that block the synthesis of estrogen, which have been used in the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women. Adverse side effects following prolonged use in males may include decreased rate of bone growth, decreased sperm production, infertility, aggressive behavior, adrenal insufficiency, kidney failure, and liver dysfunction.
ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom questions what a cancer drug might be...
ACSH staffers offer Wall Street Journal reporter Allysia Finley a seat at the table for her piece underscoring the lack of evidence supporting the claim that phthalates and BPA have contributed to the obesity epidemic. According to Stephen Perrine and Heather Hurlock, authors of The New American Diet, “obesogenic” foods — those containing pesticides and plastics — allow our bodies to store more fat. As Ms. Finley aptly points out, however, these chemicals have been prevalent for over 50 years,...