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Friday the Thirteenth is a fitting time to remind ourselves that there's no evidence risks and probabilities in the external universe the brute, physical facts of reality change in response to human attitudes. Your optimism or pessimism may alter your own behavior, but it doesn't change the odds of you winning the lottery, getting hit by a meteor, or having your picnic rained upon (any more than the number thirteen does). It will rain or it will not rain, and the odds are in no way tied to whether you remembered your umbrella, despite the common belief in "fate."

This week saw the arrest of sixteen teenagers in Westchester County for underage drinking at a party which is not big news, but the report made passing mention of the presence of several tablets of Ritalin, the drug prescribed with growing frequency as a treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and said that the drug is sometimes used recreationally. It's ironic that at the same time some people are concerned that some kids are overmedicated with Ritalin to keep them under control, other kids are rebelling by using more Ritalin than they're supposed to.

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Electric (GE) -- described by Bloomberg.com as "the world's second-biggest company by market value" -- reached agreement on plans to begin removing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Hudson River. Specifically, GE agreed to meet EPA demands to remove 10% of the PCBs along a forty-mile stretch of the river in upstate New York. Negotiations are still underway regarding the cleanup of the other 90%, and EPA will sue GE if they do not agree to a second phase of the removal process.

The November/December 2005 issue of Mother Jones included a personal attack on ACSH Medical and Executive Director Dr. Gilbert Ross.
Here is a personal response from ACSH President Dr. Elizabeth Whelan:
http://www.acsh.org/news/newsID.1207/news_detail.asp
Here is a statement from members of ACSH's Founders Circle:
http://www.acsh.org/news/newsID.1211/news_detail.asp
The text of both statements follows:

In the past twenty years, obesity has become an increasingly visible public health problem. More than 300 million adults worldwide are overweight, and many suffer from potentially life-threatening weight-related illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and sleep disorders. Childhood obesity is also a growing problem.

Meet the D'Souza family of Sacramento.
The D'Souzas live in a pleasant ranch house on a pretty cul-de-sac in Natomas. Well, it used to be pleasant, until they started bolting up hideous layers of corrugated sheet metal all over the house. The D'Souzas say the metal is there to protect them from, to quote media reports, "unknown neighbors who have been bombarding them with radio waves and making them sick."
Ah. Radio waves. Unknown neighbors.

A February 11, 2005 "Q & A" feature in the Atlanta Journal Constitution mentioned ACSH's take on The Facts about Bisphenol A:
Q: I remember reading about potential problems, such as toxic danger, in reusing plastic water bottles. Can you discuss that?
--Howard Schell, Roswell

On February 13, 2005, ACSH received a letter from the mother of an autistic child asking what our response was to the February 8th release of a 1991 Merck & Co. memo. The memo in question, written eight years before the FDA noted this fact in 1999, cited knowledge of the possibility that additions to the pediatric vaccine schedule resulted in overexposure of children to the ethylmercury based vaccine preservative, thimerosal.

Health advice abounds these days, instructions on what to eat, what to wear (or not), what pills to take or avoid, and how much sun to expose oneself to all supposedly based on scientific research. Reliance on reports of scientific evidence can sometimes be tricky, however, especially when those reports come from preliminary or otherwise unsubstantiated experiments and observations. In addition to these, though, several examples of supposedly solid, "everyone knows" advice come to mind, advice that may not be as solid as once thought.

Farmed salmon is getting yet another grilling this summer. Reports in an environmental journal once again suggest that contamination with "chemicals" (this time including fire-retardant chemicals) makes salmon a less than healthy food.
There are many, however, who beg to differ.

A March 25, 2004 article by Denise Mann on WebMD.com about artificial sweeteners quotes ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava:
"These products can be useful when used appropriately for people like diabetics who need to control their sugar intake and in overweight people," agrees Ruth Kava, PhD, RD, director of nutrition for the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) in New York City.

HOUSTON (CNI)--Don't trust laboratory rats when it comes to chemical and food health safety.
That's one of the messages of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a group that combats what it perceives as unnecessary public hysteria over whether certain chemicals, food additives and other substances can cause cancer in humans.

The media frequently report claims by nonprofit consumer groups about alleged health hazards in our food supply and our environment. Often these claims are coupled with suggestions for specific actions to reduce the purported risk of disease or premature death by avoiding or reducing exposure to the allegedly harmful substance.

A December 1, 2005 letter in the toy magazine Playthings notes the ACSH position on phthalates and quotes ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and certain activist groups are patting each other on the back now that DuPont and some other companies have "voluntarily" signed onto an EPA program aimed at reducing environmental contamination by the chemical PFOA, used in the manufacture of Teflon and other consumer products.
These companies have agreed -- or soon will -- to reduce the level of PFOA in emissions and in their products by 95% within the next four years, and to zero (if possible) by 2015.

For the past three years -- ever since Swedish scientists found the chemical acrylamide in food (particularly in high-starch foods cooked at elevated temperatures) -- there has been chatter among journalists and environmental advocates about the possible cancer risk of this chemical and the need to alert consumers to the possible dangers associated with eating French fries and chips.

Dust on computers from flame retardants is called a health risk, explains a June 4 article by Benjamin Pimantel of the San Francisco Chronicle:
But Jeff Stier, associate director of the American Council on Science and Health, criticized the report's authors for exaggerating the dangers from brominated flame retardants.

From a June 14 Mercury News editorial:
''There are just four words for weight control: calories in, calories out,'' said Dr. Ruth Kava, director of nutrition for the American Council on Science and Health.
The full article can be found at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/8918380.htm?1c

ACSH Advisor Dr. George Ehrlich received the Joseph Lee Hollander Award from the Arthritis Foundation, Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter earlier this summer. The award is given for excellence and achievement in the field of rheumatology. Our congratulations to him.

This letter originally ran in the New York Sun.
I was disappointed with Dr. Edward Wu's characterization of the risks posed by the tuberculosis patient Andrew Speaker, and the doctor's lack of empathy for an American citizen who simply wanted to get home for treatment [Oped, "Treating Tuberculosis," June 7, 2007].

An overwhelming body of scientific data indicates that irradiated food is safe, nutritious, and wholesome. Health authorities worldwide, including leading national and international scientific organizations, have based their approvals of food irradiation on the results of sound scientific research.
Irradiation increases the safety profile and the availability of a variety of foods. The safety of food irradiation has been studied more extensively than that of any other food preservation process. As is true of other food processes, irradiation can lead to chemical changes in food.

Soon, this daily dose of ACSH staffers' conversations will be e-mailed to donors each morning, available to the public the next day.
You can become a donor at http://www.acsh.org/support/ or send a tax-deductible donation to:
American Council on Science and Health1995 Broadway, 2nd floorNew York, NY 10023
For questions, please call Jeff Stier at 212-362-7044 x225 or e-mail Tara McTeague at McTeagueT[at]acsh.org.

January 2, 2007: Less Smoke in France, Less Sperm Everywhere, More Fat in Memphis
- Quote to Note: "There's no stopping now. Soon they'll ban alcohol and you'll need to bring in your latest blood tests to eat in a restaurant," said Francis Attrazic, vice president of the hospitality industry association UMIH, about the new smoking ban in France.

A May 1, 2006 article on the website of CBS 4 in Miami quotes Michael Jacobson of Center for Science in the Public Interest, ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava, and others on the topic of artificial sweeteners:
Dr. Ruth Kava, of the American Council on Science and Health says they provide a sweet ride without the guilt trip.

This letter appeared in the Science section of the New York Times.
To the Editor: