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Disaster in Haiti
ACSH staffers are distraught by the tragedy in Haiti in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Tuesday evening about sixteen miles outside of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

“The number one concern for the relief effort right now is clean water,” says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. “The survivors don't have clean, safe water, and it's horrible to say but the corpses lying around will continue to contaminate what supply there is. Terrible diseases often follow disasters of this sort. Incredible though it seems, there can be more devastation...

ACSH is pulling the honorary seat out from under the California Assembly. We honored them prematurely, since the Assembly reversed itself and voted July 1 for a ban on bisphenol A in baby products. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it has already passed, for a reconciliation vote in August; Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't taken a position on the bill. We hope he will exercise sound judgment and follow the science on BPA by vetoing this ban.

An article in The New Yorker by Harvard Medical School professor Dr. Jerome Groopman quotes ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan extensively. In the article, titled "Plastic Panic: How worried should we be about everyday chemicals? Dr. Groopman examines the charges against BPA and phthalates and concludes the evidence of their health consequences is "far from conclusive."

Dr. Whelan s comments included:

People fear what they can t see and don t understand. Some environmental activists emotionally manipulate parents, making them feel that the ones they love the most, their children, are in danger. Whelan argues...

 

Mid adult Hispanic male wearing lab coat shrugging, isolated on white background Photo: labullitin.com

No- this not a spinoff of Survivor in which the goal is to stay alive without the benefit of a new phone, plastic tooth- and toilet brushes, Tupperware, and laundry baskets.

It could be, except reality TV isn't exactly reality, but the attempts of an Austrian family of five to spend six years trying to avoid contact with any plastic are very real (1).

I'll leave it to you to...

To the surprise of none of the ACSH staffers, an article recently published in the Journal of Urology found no evidence of so-called endocrine disruption as a result of exposure to BPA and certain phthalates. We don t expect this result to be mentioned by many mainstream media sources, though, since we seem to remember making a similar assessment of the improbability of these dangers ten years ago. At the root of the issue is the whole concept of an endocrine disruptor.

I have said from day one that this is a bogus term. It means nothing physiologically or medically. It s just a term to make people sound erudite and give them license to cause panic about low doses of naturally-encountered chemicals, says ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross.

Dr. Whelan sees the motivation...

The New York State Legislature successfully upheld its reputation as a scientifically misinformed governmental body when Gov. David Patterson officially signed into law a ban against BPA in children’s products over the weekend.

“We can no longer call them the ‘do-nothing Legislature’ because they finally did do something, even though it was counterproductive,” points out Dr. Ross.

If we had enough space, we’d offer all of the members of the Legislature a seat in the ACSH soundproof chamber.

Many Americans are seeking greater “authenticity” in their lives.  There’s nothing wrong with that unless, in the process, they’re being misled by false advertising that causes them to pay inflated prices for products that are “free from” various things that are actually beneficial, or for worthless nostrums.  Examples of false alarms include the rejection of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), which is used to make certain plastics and as an antibacterial agent on metal coatings; and embracing the pseudo-medical practices of “naturopathy” and “homeopathy.”

BPA is used as a coating in canned food to prevent botulism and other bacteria-caused illnesses. Its protection of canned goods allows consumers better access to fruits and vegetables by safely preserving them in cans all year...

ACSH offers an honorary seat at the table to the California lawmakers who succeeded in voting down a ban against BPA on Monday.

Despite pressure from environmental activists to ban BPA from use in children’s products, the Legislature adhered to sound science instead, earning themselves a pat on the back from ACSH staffers.

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We at ACSH have written countless pieces on the absolute garbage science surrounding BPA a chemical that has been in use for more than 50 years, and is used in the manufacturing process of various plastics.

So, it is only natural that we give a huge shout-out to Trevor Butterworth, a journalist and master junk science (especially statistics)...

ACSH Director of Publications Derek Rose harnessed his creative juices to produce this informative and amusing video on the truth behind BPA.

We ask our Dispatch readers to help spread the real BPA message by posting the link to this video to their Facebook pages and send it along to friends and family.

Warning: Video is intended for adult audiences and may cause uncontrollable laughter.