In January 2005, New York governor George Pataki issued an executive order mandating the use of so-called "green" cleaning products in all state agencies and authorities; he later extended his order to New York schools. According to an Associated Press notice, the governor signed legislation putting his orders into law, effective September 1, 2006. So now we can all breathe a sigh of relief when standing for hours in a queue at the Department of Motor Vehicles or any other state offices, right?
Well, no. As we have noted in the past, such actions reflect chemophobia more than scientifically sound policy. There is no valid evidence that the common, conventional cleansers we have been using for decades pose any risk to the health of American consumers of any age. In his initial announcements on the topic, the Governor thanked Diedre Imus for alerting him to the supposed dangers of cleansers. It should be noted that Imus sells "green" cleansers on her website. "Full disclosure" of potential conflicts of interest is required these days of any scientist publishing in a journal, after all -- perhaps this should also apply to politicians' (un)scientific advisors.
Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., is Director of Nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
