Comments on: Phthalates and Cargo Cult Science

By: Reformed Republican

Reformed Republican — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:52:31 +0000

Knee-jerk reaction leading to a substance being replaced by one that is worse for humans? Perhaps the replacement of saturated fats with trans-fats (if you believe the trans-fats are as dangerous as stated).

By: epobirs

epobirs — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:57:51 +0000

Matt, this has indeed happened many times, especially the area of food panics. Also, consider the history of DDT.

By: Dr. T

Dr. T — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:35:33 +0000

I'm a clinical pathologist who knows about toxicology (including a graduate course in environmental toxicology) and who has been in charge of a blood bank. The plastic bags used to collect and store blood products contain phthalates. Every person who has received red blood cells, platelets, plasma, or cryoglobulins for the past 40 years or more has been exposed to phthalates. The number of blood product recipients who have been harmed by phthalates over all those years is 0.

By the way: Most of us drive vehicles that contain vinyls and plastics. If you've ever wiped away a hazy film from the windows after your vehicle sat outside on a hot day, then you've seen phthalates. The phthalates evaporate from the plastics and coat the windows. Therefore, each time you got into a hot vehicle, the air you breathed contained phthalates. Gee, shouldn't we all be dead by now?

No reliable studies have shown that humans get ill after inhaling, ingesting, or intravenously injecting phthalates. The anti-phthalate crowd is just another group of modern day Luddites who hate technology and progress. They should move to the Amazon rain forest, avoid all the horrors of modern technology, and shortly thereafter die of diseases, starvation, or venomous bites.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:01:02 +0000

There is a thing that concerns me the most about the various safety witch-hunts that people are engaging in these days. It is the possibility that at some point, in a rush to get rid of the latest scape-goat chemical, some other chemical is going to be used that is actually worse for humans than the one it replaced. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if this has already happened at some point, and I’m just to young or uninformed to remember it.

By: Erik The Red

Erik The Red — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:11:30 +0000

Also from the article, for people like me who thought "phthalates" was a made-up word whose purpose was to allow scientists to cover each other with spittle during conversations:

Phthalates make plastics pliable and are used in the creation of automobile dashboards and floor mats. They are present in sneakers and rain boots and in rubber ducks and other children's toys. Today that is the crux of the issue that is forcing lawmakers and scientists to opposite sides of the equation.

By: Erik The Red

Erik The Red — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:07:38 +0000

You’re quote seems to have an echo…