"I’ve Had More Exposure To Agent Orange Than Anyone: Here’s What I Know," By Michael Newton. You’ve probably never heard of me, even though I have studied herbicides used in forests for over 50 years, all of it published in weed science literature. However, you have heard of one famous substance I studied; Agent Orange. Agent Orange is now known to have contained a contaminant “dioxin,” the generic name of over 70 organochlorine compounds that vary in toxicity. Agent Orange was a mixture of the … [Read more...]
Dioxin Update
June 10, 2016
"Doomsday Chemical’ Update: Whatever Happened to Dioxin?" By Gordon Gribble. Dioxin, once proclaimed by the environmental community as the “doomsday chemical” of the 20th century and the “deadliest substance ever created by chemists,” has faded from the media spotlight. Why? Why did the EPA official who recommended the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri, admit that he made a mistake and that the evacuation of this community following the spraying of dioxin-contaminated oil on roads, and a … [Read more...]
NRDC Lies
April 25, 2016
"NRDC Scientists Are Lying in the Weeds," by Josh Bloom There has been a long-running scare campaign against the commonly-used herbicide 2,4-D, which has been conducted by a number of environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council being at or near the front of the pack. NRDC uses the time-tested strategy of equating 2,4-D with Agent Orange — the notorious herbicide that was used to defoliate swaths of Vietnam during the war. The name Agent Orange itself sounds scary, and the … [Read more...]
More Chemical Scares
April 10, 2014
"It’s Whacko Wednesday: Two More Asinine Chemical Scares," by American Council on Science and Health. Screen Shot 2014-04-09 at 1.05.06 PMAt ACSH we shout a lot. Sometimes even at each other. But most of the time it takes the form of shoutouts to like-minded writers and websites (and there aren’t that many) that believe that real science, not agenda-driven nonsense, should actually be used to guide public health policy. Today’s shoutout #1 goes to the prolific (and brilliant) Trevor … [Read more...]
