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January 27, 2006
Man vs. nature
Are man-made chemicals bad for us because they are “artificial,” and chemicals produced by nature okay because they are “natural?” Read what Robin McKie, science editor for England’s The Observer, has to say. (Note: The Observer is the Sunday version of the left-leaning Guardian.)
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1692191,00.html
Posted by Marian at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2006
Relax! Take a deep breath!
How does good news get played as bad news?
A case in point is a report recently issued by an organization called the Ecology Center, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The report, titled “Toxic at any Speed,” (get it?) declares darkly that chemicals used to make various parts in a car interior “can break down into dust that is inhaled, becoming a serious health risk.” Among those chemicals are phthalates, primarily DEHP.
But what did the study actually find? It found that the total amount of phthalates found in car dust is around 63 parts per million. That means that phthalates comprise less than one ten thousandth of the mass of the dust. The level is actually about ten times lower than is found in house dust, which is also a very low level.
And the study did not measure the amount of phthalate actually in the car’s interior air. I wonder why not?
Last but not least, the report chose not to describe the amount of phthalates the way regulatory authorities do, but in a different way that tends to make the quantity sound like a bigger number. To a person not familiar with units of measurement, 16 ounces can sure sound like a lot more than one pint! That’s not very helpful to the average person.
Drive safely. And breathe easy.
Posted by Marian at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)