An August 16, 2006 article by John Johnston noted the denunciation by ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan of proposed California legislation that would ban iPods for containing "toxic" ingredients:
Whelan went on to note a list of items, currently accused of causing a variety of ailments, from cancer to neurological damage to learning disabilities. That list includes: the sugar substitute aspartame, acrylamide in fried carbohydrate-rich foods like French fries, preservatives in life-saving vaccines, Teflon on frying pans, chemicals in cosmetics, fire-retardants, wood-preserving preparations, farmed salmon and other seafood, and genetically-modified and irradiated food.
"And in almost all of the cases, either the claims are based on high-dose laboratory animal tests of limited relevance to humans or -- in cases where a chemical (like lead) can be a hazard to humans if the exposure is high enough -- the actual exposure in question is too low to have health consequences," said Whelan.
"Those alleging health threats propose interventions including outright bans or warning labels on these products -- even if there is no evidence whatsoever that a public health risk exists," she said.
