3 ms·

"Last November, she announced that areas around the Cottage Grove plant had elevated levels of some cancers including childhood cancers , and lower fertility.

"Last November, she announced that areas around the Cottage Grove plant had elevated levels of some cancers including childhood cancers , and lower fertility. And, she said in court filings, 3M was to blame." - I wonder if chemicals are the cause of the 50% drop in male sperm count in developed countries [over the last 30 years].

chinathrow 8y ago
I wonder the same. Might these all be signs of the great filter at work? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter
pmastela 8y ago
Some scientists are putting your assumption to the test. Here's an HN discussion from a couple months back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17942744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17942744
hammock 8y ago
The answer is almost definitely yes, at least in great part. Furthermore, the top two killers in America are heart disease and cancer. 80% of heart disease is preventable by diet - avoiding foods that cause insulin resistance (sugar) and gut dysfunction (chemicals). The top cancer and many others are triggered by environmental variables (chemicals). And I know I am going to be downvoted for not citing, maybe someone who agrees can help back me up, and also for saying "chemicals" and there are people here who cringe because everything is chemicals and most chemicals are good, I want to be clear I'm talking about the bad chemicals here- PFCs like the ones in the article, heavy metals, other petroleum-derived baddies, and some others.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  Don’t forget seed oils!
  - mr_toad 8y ago
    And oxygen. That stuff can be lethal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress
    - onetimemanytime 8y ago
      A lot of dead people--not to say 100% because I have no source--had been using oxygen before they died.
  - nunb 8y ago
    Good point, though it might trigger the correlation-not-causation debate. When one has a widespread, general rise in cancer and vascular disease, one should look for a systemic cause. The general perception is changing from 'cancer is genetic' to 'cancer is environmental', although oncologists have long known it. The California Prop 65 warnings are a start at raising awareness, though more risible than alarming. I hope we start testing, treating & preventing causes, whether it's pathogens (HPV) or chemicals (benzene) causing cancer. Or other disease triggers like Alzheimer's (zoster) or ischemic event triggers (periodontal).
- christophilus 8y ago
  The answer about heart disease, cancer, etc seems to be dietary but not necessarily the chemical industry’s fault: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die/ https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die/ [Edit: In general, I should say, but these chemicals in concentrations like those in the article are certainly cancer promoters.]
- adrr 8y ago
  Except for skin cancer, cancer rates have been declining. Source: https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2017/cancer-facts-and-figures-2017.pdf https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cance... https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html

chinathrow 8y ago

I wonder the same. Might these all be signs of the great filter at work? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter

pmastela 8y ago

Some scientists are putting your assumption to the test. Here's an HN discussion from a couple months back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17942744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17942744

hammock 8y ago

The answer is almost definitely yes, at least in great part. Furthermore, the top two killers in America are heart disease and cancer. 80% of heart disease is preventable by diet - avoiding foods that cause insulin resistance (sugar) and gut dysfunction (chemicals). The top cancer and many others are triggered by environmental variables (chemicals). And I know I am going to be downvoted for not citing, maybe someone who agrees can help back me up, and also for saying "chemicals" and there are people here who cringe because everything is chemicals and most chemicals are good, I want to be clear I'm talking about the bad chemicals here- PFCs like the ones in the article, heavy metals, other petroleum-derived baddies, and some others.

village-idiot 8y ago
Don’t forget seed oils!
- mr_toad 8y ago
  And oxygen. That stuff can be lethal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress
  - onetimemanytime 8y ago
    A lot of dead people--not to say 100% because I have no source--had been using oxygen before they died.
- nunb 8y ago
  Good point, though it might trigger the correlation-not-causation debate. When one has a widespread, general rise in cancer and vascular disease, one should look for a systemic cause. The general perception is changing from 'cancer is genetic' to 'cancer is environmental', although oncologists have long known it. The California Prop 65 warnings are a start at raising awareness, though more risible than alarming. I hope we start testing, treating & preventing causes, whether it's pathogens (HPV) or chemicals (benzene) causing cancer. Or other disease triggers like Alzheimer's (zoster) or ischemic event triggers (periodontal).
christophilus 8y ago
The answer about heart disease, cancer, etc seems to be dietary but not necessarily the chemical industry’s fault: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die/ https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-not-to-die/ [Edit: In general, I should say, but these chemicals in concentrations like those in the article are certainly cancer promoters.]
adrr 8y ago
Except for skin cancer, cancer rates have been declining. Source: https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2017/cancer-facts-and-figures-2017.pdf https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cance... https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html