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Serious science writers don't follow the Huffington Post. But when Dr. Angela Logomasini of Competitive Enterprise Institute posts something, it's worth walking into the belly of the anti-science beast. Here's that, and a few other things we've been up to recently.

A column in the November 28, 2005 Plastics News by Greenpeace co-founder turned scare-debunker Patrick Moore condemns the National Environmental Trust for trying to ban phthalates, which help make plastic in children's toys soft. He quotes ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross:
American Council on Science and Health medical director Dr. Gil Ross condemns the activist campaign against softeners.

A study of elephants finds these massive animals get cancer at a far lower rate than humans. Researchers also found the reason: they have an astronomical number of copies of a vital gene. The news is interesting, but is unlikely to do more for improving human health.

Unless he has a miraculous change of mind and heart, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be remembered as a scourge on public health. He'll also be the Kennedy whose words and actions encouraged the spread of not only measles, mumps, and rubella but influenza and cervical cancer as well. What a legacy.

As we have done repeatedly, fellow debunker Michael Shaw has some things to say about Dr. Oz on his web page Shaw s Eco-Logic.
Here are a couple of examples from his piece The Merry Old Land of Oz, which appeared on the HealthNewsDigest site:

To make our society better informed, we have to fight back against the Fear Industry. We can do so by publicly identifying those people who spread misinformation. And then we encourage people to never listen to them again.

In his Sunday column in the Montreal Gazette, McGill University chemistry professor Dr. Joseph Schwarcz wrote a commonsense article that effectively debunked the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) myth that the sunscreen additive retinyl palmitate causes cancer.

It’s bad enough when grown-ups use untested and unapproved supplements. But now, new research published in the journal Pediatrics found a surprisingly high rate of herbal supplement use among infants. The 2005 to 2007 study suggests that the prevalence of such use (including herbal teas) in the U.S. was between 3 and 10 percent.

As the bed bug epidemic continues to spread through New York City and elsewhere, the EPA is now planning to commence research aimed at developing pesticide alternatives, especially genetic-based solutions, rather than allow DDT to be used. PBS NewsHour reported Monday that chemically-based anti-bed bug methods, particularly DDT, are “noxious but effective” and highlight the growing resistance of bed-bugs to more commonly employed pesticides. “DDT is not noxious.

Yale University researchers analyzed groundwater from 64 wells in several fracking-dense Pennsylvania counties where Marcellus shale drilling is taking place. In the largest study of its kind they found no association between fracking and well water contamination.

In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgery, researchers debunked the myth that motorcycle helmets are associated with a higher risk of cervical spine injury. Helmeted motorcycle riders experienced a 22 percent reduction in the odds of this type of injury compared to non-helmeted riders.

Today, the only thing reliable about the collective media – both American and international – is how unreliable they are. Even on vital issues, like the coronavirus, they succumb to sensationalism and conspiracy theories. Is it any wonder, then, that more people are turning away?

The Cleveland Clinic remains mortified that one of their physicians, Dr. Daniel Neides, wrote blog post full of anti-science quackery. It has issued as strong of a rebuke as possible without firing him on the spot. Here's the full whiplashing by the Cleveland Clinic. 

The Big Oyster and the Black Oyster King
Can Prohibition teach us about lockdowns and the opioid crisis?
When narrative overwhelms facts
Lessons from a child and a thief

One of our core missions is to spread the good news about science as far and wide as possible. Obviously, we do plenty of that on the ACSH website, but we also regularly appear in various media outlets across the country. Here's where we appeared recently.

This item, which includes Dr.

We at ACSH have written countless pieces on the absolute garbage science surrounding BPA a chemical that has been in use for more than 50 years. The primary use of BPA the manufacture numerous plastics.
So, it is only natural that we give a huge shout-out to Trevor Butterworth, a journalist and master junk science (especially statistics) debunker, who has an impressive pedigree of editorial and media exposure.

Activists repeat a lie often, get it re-tweeted and soon it's the truth for those who major in Confirmation Bias at Google University. That's likely the only explanation why Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return, basically an anti-meat investment group, released new material prompting regulators to put a "sin" tax on meat.

Kawhi Leonard is intelligent, soft-spoken, modest and a thoroughly likable young man with an incredible work ethic. But during a recent interview the NBA star helped perpetuate one of the worst health scams around — that drinking alkaline, or high pH, water has health benefits. Should Leonard be called for a technical foul?
 

A weekend retail therapy session turned into an ACSH topic when Director of Video Production Ana Simovska came across a California-made wallet with a Proposition 65 warning. Dr. Josh Bloom debunks the junk in the above video.

Dear CBS News,
Imagine our surprise: in the same CBS Health Watch website section as an article that scares parents away from having their children vaccinated against preventable diseases, CBS also posted an Associated Press article urging the exact opposite course of action. What's a parent to do?

As the debate over the origins of SARS-COV-2 rages, the case for silencing social media users grows weaker.

Apparently, the Huffington Post hasn’t caught up with the times. Nearly a year after The Lancet retracted Dr.

The Amish typically have very low vaccination rates for three reasons: First, in their culture, they have not been exposed to the overall benefits of children s vaccinations; second, they believe that vaccines may put their

We at ACSH are heartened to know that America has gotten a little safer this week.
Self-proclaimed vaccine expert Jenny McCarthy will soon become a co-host on The View, where she will no doubt be sharing her medical acumen with millions of people who will devour every word.