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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 01/21/2006 : 21:30:17
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Today the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT) hosted a talk by a Toxicologist on "Toxicology and the Environment: Separating fact from fiction".
A good amount of the talk was spent on rumors that spread - usually by email - about some common product being toxic. I remember getting an email a couple years ago on tampons and toxic shock syndrome. I just looked it up on the debunker snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/tampax.asp
So has anyone else gotten any good emails warning you about the toxic chemicals in some product?
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2006 : 22:18:58 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
Today the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT) hosted a talk by a Toxicologist on "Toxicology and the Environment: Separating fact from fiction".
A good amount of the talk was spent on rumors that spread - usually by email - about some common product being toxic. I remember getting an email a couple years ago on tampons and toxic shock syndrome. I just looked it up on the debunker snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/tampax.asp
So has anyone else gotten any good emails warning you about the toxic chemicals in some product?
Oh sure. There were emails going around a few years ago warning of the dangers of aspartame for one. Every year there are emails warning of some new toxic danger that usually turn out to be complete bullshit.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2006 : 01:04:04 [Permalink]
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| I don't know about the Snopes article claiming we don't know about the TSS and tampons but I can tell you there is an hypothesis that has some fairly substantial support. The staph bacteria that cause TSS grow better in the presence of air or rather O2. The super absorbent products which got more and more absorbent as the marketing battles ensued eventually resulted in products that had a lot of air filled material with lots of room to absorb liquid. Using such a product left you with conditions conducive to the growth of staph bacteria. And the luck of the draw meant some people got strains of staph growing that produced a deadly toxin. |
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Subjectmatter
Skeptic Friend
173 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2006 : 03:34:37 [Permalink]
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Indeed, many of these toxins are real issues. Just look at this, Dihydrogen Monoxide:
quote:
What are some of the dangers associated with DHMO?
Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.
Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide. Some of the well-known uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
Dihydrogen Monoxide |
Sibling Atom Bomb of Couteous Debate |
| Edited by - Subjectmatter on 01/22/2006 03:36:26 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2006 : 06:23:19 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Subjectmatter
Indeed, many of these toxins are real issues. Just look at this, Dihydrogen Monoxide:
quote:
What are some of the dangers associated with DHMO?
Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.
Despite the known dangers of DHMO, it continues to be used daily by industry, government, and even in private homes across the U.S. and worldwide. Some of the well-known uses of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:
Dihydrogen Monoxide
Oldie but goodie! Been a long time since I've seen that one.
Thanks! 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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| Edited by - filthy on 01/22/2006 06:25:08 |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2006 : 11:21:35 [Permalink]
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Oldie but goodie! Been a long time since I've seen that one.
Man, that is an oldie. The toxicologist who spoke for my group tried to use it. He didn't even give its name; he just said, "There's this substance that..." Before he was half done, everyone in the room had big grins on their faces, and when he finally said, "Can you guess what it is?" the whole room said "Oxygen!" and laughed. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2006 : 11:27:46 [Permalink]
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In response to beskeptical and TSS:
I did a little more research, and here's something from the FDA in 1999: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/tamponsabs.html
Scroll down to see the stuff on tampons. These sentences got my attention:
A few specific tampon designs and high absorbency tampon materials were also found to have some association with increased risk of TSS. These products and materials are no longer used in tampons sold in the U.S.
Seems to me its another thing liek aerosol cans, where we stopped using flurocarbons in - what, the 70's? - but people today still think that using aerosols destroys the O-Zone. According to this FDA post, the only way one could get TSS from tampon use is if they totally misused a high absorbant one, and even then their chances of catching TSS are extremely low. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2006 : 02:48:29 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
Oldie but goodie! Been a long time since I've seen that one.
Man, that is an oldie. The toxicologist who spoke for my group tried to use it. He didn't even give its name; he just said, "There's this substance that..." Before he was half done, everyone in the room had big grins on their faces, and when he finally said, "Can you guess what it is?" the whole room said "Oxygen!" and laughed.
Di hydrogen mono oxide? That isn't O2 it's H2O. |
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