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> Although banned for more than 30 years in many countries due to suspected health effects, chemicals such as DDT and PCBs still exist in the environment due to
by dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
> Although banned for more than 30 years in many countries due to suspected health effects, chemicals such as DDT and PCBs still exist in the environment due to their slow breakdown and the way they accumulate in plants and animals in the food chain. According to the CDC, most of the U.S. population has detectable levels of DDE
These sentences are crying out loud to all of us, especially all of us that are pushing products meant to be eaten, applied on skin, sprayed in the air, sprayed on plants we eat, without adequate and long-term testing, focusing only on perceived short-term advantages (Was DDT efficient? Damn it was!)
- bluGill 8y agoHow do you do a long term study on anything though? genetic mutations are fairly common. Take any large sample of anything living and there will be genetic differences. Even a field of roundup-resistance GMO corn after sprayed with roundup will not all have the same DNA, and I just gave the best odds of killing anything not the same DNA. You cannot know for sure that one of those random mutations isn't very harmful, and there is no way to know which of the thousands of plants actually has the mutations that need to be tested - nor do you even know which mutations will survive more generations (because they are from a grandparent seed plant)
- dvfjsdhgfv 8y agoIt was very difficult back then, it's even more difficult now. Think about 5G: we know already that it's a huge safety hazard[0]. But we'll use it when it's out anyway. Why? Because of short-term benefits. Because the negative effects cannot be measured immediately. Because the tech industry is extremely powerful and there is no way we can avoid 5G, it's simply too late. [0] https://www.thenation.com/article/how-big-wireless-made-us-think-that-cell-phones-are-safe-a-special-investigation/ https://www.thenation.com/article/how-big-wireless-made-us-t...
- bluGill 8y agoThe article you linked can be summed up in this line in the middle: "The absence of absolute proof does not mean the absence of risk". In short this is a religion: you cannot prove me wrong therefore I'm right.
- gowld 8y agoScientific research can be used to answer questions. We don't need to rely on faith one way or the other. That's why these scientists are calling for a moratorium and safety research.