Sensationalist Science...Yeah, Of Course

In July 2009, Nicholas Kristof wrote about the dangers of endocrine disruptors.  They are ubiquitous in our lives, unfortunately, and solidly linked to innumerable sexual and genital deformities in animals and humans, and suspected of a causal relationship to a much longer list of health issues.

As Kristoff pointed out in 2009, there were naturally some uncertainties about the exact way in which these endocrine disruptors work in the human population, even though there was a mountain of evidence pointing to the dangers they posed.

Three years later, in another column this week, with even more evidence mounting up, and the uncertainties becoming fewer, the FDA has done nothing.  And, as Kristof points out, in an election year when one party is going to be complaining about supposed "over" regulation of business, what's the likelihood that they're going to? 

Of course the chemistry industry's response is "sensationalist science."

So far, it has blocked strict regulation in the United States, even as Europe and Canada have adopted tighter controls on endocrine disruptors.

It has always seemed to me a reflection of our skewed values that a manufacturer is allowed to use almost any chemical without providing evidence of its harmlessness (proof would obviously be impossible), but once it is in use, the evidence of harm has to be overwhelming and clear beyond any doubt.

It reminds me of another story I read recently.  There have been three studies published recently (I believe two were published in England by professors at Oxford and the third in the U.S. by a Harvard professor) linking the death of honey bees (there is a name for this bee-death syndrome but I don't recall it) to the use of a type of pesticide that is applied to seeds before they are planted (that too has a name I've forgotten).  Of course you know the immediate response from the manufacturer of the pesticide: faulty science.

There are no doubt many instances of faulty science, but the immediate knee-jerk reaction of manufacturers with a hefty financial interest is always suspect.  It is as predictable as the police union's response, in any city in the country, to accusations of police misconduct or that the sun will rise in the east.