How often do you see false statements being made by
anti-chemical advocates that never seem to get corrected? Mark Twain
wrote, "One of the most startling differences between a cat and a lie
is that a cat has only nine lives." Many activists’ lies are
perpetuated by media reporters who don’t or can’t take the time to
verify the accuracy of every fact. Soon the reporter’s version of the
activist’s lie is quoted, and like the Energizer Bunny, the falsehood
goes on-and-on-and-on-and-on. Here are a few recent ones:
U.S. male sperm counts are dropping due to chemical
exposures. False. No changes in U.S. human sperm counts have been seen
during the last 60 years. A June 14 report in the Wall Street Journal on
human sperm count studies notes that some researchers now think normal
geographic and seasonal variations may have "confounded" earlier
research linking suspected sperm count declines to estrogenic-like
chemicals. Harry Fisch, director of Columbia University’s Male
Reproductive Center, is reported as giving a "reassuring" review
of 29 U.S. sperm count studies between the late 1930s and the 1990s. In
his study, published in the Journal of Urology, he found "no
significant changes in sperm counts during the last 60 years."
Research proved exposure to pesticide mixtures has
synergistic effect on hormones. False. The Tulane University research
study on hormones and pesticides mixtures which reported the erroneous
finding was proven false and withdrawn. The controversial study is back in
the news. According to the June 18 issue of Science, a faculty review
panel has cleared principal author John McLachlan of any
"misconduct" in the research paper published three years ago and
retracted one year later. However, the panel found that the research of
Steven Arnold, who did most of the work and resigned after the paper’s
retraction, failed to support the paper’s "major conclusions."
Study sponsor W. Alton Jones Foundation is said to be "ready to close
the books on the affair," saying the hypothesis "has fallen by
the wayside."
Environmentally caused cancer rates are climbing,
especially among young children. Both are false. Children’s cancer
rates are stable. The National Cancer Institute reports that cancer rates
among U.S. children 0 - 14 years of age have remained stable for two
decades. According to the June 16 issue of the Institute’s Journal, NCI
scientists analyzed data from nine longstanding NCI regional registries
and found "no consistent large increases or decreases in incidence
for the major categories of cancer" among children in that age group
from 1975 to 1995. In the same issue, NCI noted that although the overall
human death rate from major cancers has increased 6.8 percent since 1950,
if lung cancer (primarily from smoking) is excluded, the rate actually has
declined by 17.7 percent.
Excerpted from OFS Update, Oregonians for Food and
Shelter
