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Nothing new here. We ve written about this before.

Once the esteemed New York Times columnist Nick Kristof gets out of his comfort (and knowledge) zone he goes from a really great commentator to an ignorant scaremonger. Sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydrogen.

But even he has outdone himself this time. In an effort to be seen as a superhero against the evil chemical industry he is grabbing for straws that don t even exist.

In a scientifically amateurish attempt to make a ridiculous point, he only succeeds in demonstrating (at least to anyone who has taken a chemistry course) how far he is willing to go to find a villain. But it is what he does...

ACSH's Jeff Stier wonders if we have failed to learn our lesson from the 9/11 Ground Zero lawsuit after reading that the Department of Veterans Affairs intends to expand Agent Orange disability coverage to include treatment of ischemic heart disease and Parkinson s disease. It s estimated the benefits expansion will cost taxpayers $42 billion over the next 10 years. Agent Orange is an herbicide used in the U.S. military chemical warfare program during the...

Screen Shot 2015-05-11 at 1.45.25 PMIt s Monday morning. No one is in a particularly good mood. This didn't help.

We have been discussing BPA a component of polycarbonate and polyether plastics forever. This should be #1000 on your list of things to worry about (#999 is being hit by a giraffe that fell off a skyscraper.)

It doesn t matter what we say. The Environmental Working Group, and other geniuses have devoted their lives to finding something dangerous about it. Even though they failed in that quest, they...

Over the weekend, Bill Maher took the fat-acceptance movement to task for lying about the dangers of obesity and excusing overweight people from taking responsibility for their eating and exercise habits. For performing this public service, Maher was...

A Brief Glimpse of Todd
For those of you who want to catch a glimpse of ACSH's elusive Todd Seavey, look for John Stossel's new show tonight at 8pm (EST) on Fox Business Network. Seavey can be seen briefly in the final segment, defending snack consumption as an audience commenter.

HSPH Disappoints
ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, a graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), is irate about the hyperbolic language describing the alleged “health risks” of plastics -- particularly the chemicals BPA and phthalates -- in an article titled...

The e-mails and phone calls I get these days are relentless. Usually triggered by the latest scary headline, panicked consumers want to know how to avoid all the "chemicals" (a term they often use synonymously with toxins) to which we are exposed.

Well, I tell them, I worry a lot more about slipping in the shower than about exposure to chemicals released from my polyvinylchloride (PVC) shower curtain. I do not look to eliminate plastics marked with the recycling identifier numbers one, three, six or seven from my life, and if I had to wear a shower cap, I would not worry about its effect on my health. Neither would I be concerned about my neighbour making wine from elderberries picked from a bush that grew in a cemetery. Alright, now for the details. Because it is there, rather...

This piece first appeared on HuffingtonPost.com.

The days when you could count on hard news in the morning are long over. But as the morning news extends from breakfast to brunch, the standards have fallen even more.

As New York Times TV critic Alessandra Stanley pointed out in a column entitled "Morning TV Veers From News To Frills," morning programs like Today on NBC and The View on ABC are the modern equivalents of the old Barbizon Hotel for Women, a frilly haven where men were not...

The Beatles song "Here, There, and Everywhere" was about romance, but it also describes ACSH's presence in the media in recent days.

1) Dr. Alex Berezow was interviewed by CNN about the government shutdown and its impact on food safety. CNN wanted to know if there were certain types of foods that should be avoided. Dr. Berezow told them, "Our advice is for people to continue using common sense measures -- that they should rinse off their vegetables, rinse off their fruits, cook their meat, don't eat raw meats, and just do all the normal things that you should do all the time anyway and you should be just fine." This article was reprinted by several...

Recommended Reading
ACSH staffers were pleased to read two reports from thinktanks addressing the panic fomented by activist groups concerning trace levels of chemicals in our consumer products and our bodies.

Dr. Angela Logomasini of the Competitive Enterprise Institute wrote a comprehensive report on bisphenol-A (BPA) that was published by the Cascade Policy Institute. “Despite considerable fears raised by activist groups and the press,” she writes, “the science does not warrant regulations on BPA. Instead, it...

Whelan argues that the public should focus on proven health issues, such as the dangers of cigarettes and obesity and the need for bicycle helmets and other protective equipment. As for chemicals in plastics, Whelan says, What the country needs is a national psychiatrist.

To illustrate what Whelan says is a misguided focus on manufactured chemicals, her organization has constructed a dinner menu filled with natural foods, and you can find a carcinogen or an endocrine-disrupting chemical in every course for instance, tofu and soy products are filled with plant-based estrogens that could affect hormonal balance. Just because you find something in the urine doesn t mean that it s a hazard, Whelan says. Our understanding of risks and benefits is distorted. BPA helps protect food...