3 ms·

Its the headline that I personally take issue with. It is about Australia, but the title implies that backyard eggs all over are more likely to contain lead.

nine_k 4y ago
Pick an average US headline; does it even mention US? The local context bias is here to stay.
- samatman 4y ago
  On HN users are in fact expected to modify titles which are misleading or clickbaity, without resorting to editorialization. This would include for example, changing an article from a Florida news source saying "diabetes epidemic out of control" to "Florida reports highest level of diabetes in its history" (these are completely made up).
  - nine_k 4y ago
    There is also a strong bias to reverting titles to the original formulation. We have a convention to add (year) to mark the date. We should take up a convention to add [context], too; e.g. [In Sydney] Backyard hens’ eggs contain 40 times more lead... I tried that several times, but mods often revert that. I wonder what @dang thinks about this.
jefftk 4y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if that's true: is there any reason to expect Australia to have higher than average lead levels? My understanding is that it's mostly from paint and gasoline, in which case it should be similar to the US and other countries.
- acomjean 4y ago
  I don’t think it’s an austrain problem. I know in the US it’s also an issue. Leaded gasoline is one of the drivers of all this lead in soil. When I was younger fuel was labeled “unleaded” when they took the anti-engine knock chemicals out. There is some lead naturally in soil but it’s generally low levels UMass has a lead in soil fact sheet: https://ag.umass.edu/soil-plant-nutrient-testing-laboratory/fact-sheets/soil-lead-fact-sheet https://ag.umass.edu/soil-plant-nutrient-testing-laboratory/... “The US EPA has set a safe soil lead threshold limit of 400 ppm total lead using this method. The US EPA also recommends that soils used for gardening fall below 100 ppm total lead. In Massachusetts, the regulatory safety threshold is 200 ppm total lead….To reduce your risk of lead poisoning, the following is advised: Good Gardening Practices to Reduce Lead Exposure -Locate gardens away from old painted structures and heavily travelled roads. -Give planting preferences to fruiting crops (tomatoes, squash, peas, sunflowers, corn, etc.). -Incorporate organic materials such as high quality compost, humus, and peat moss. -Lime soil as recommended by soil test (a soil pH of 6.5 to 7.0 will minimize lead “

nine_k 4y ago

Pick an average US headline; does it even mention US? The local context bias is here to stay.

samatman 4y ago
On HN users are in fact expected to modify titles which are misleading or clickbaity, without resorting to editorialization. This would include for example, changing an article from a Florida news source saying "diabetes epidemic out of control" to "Florida reports highest level of diabetes in its history" (these are completely made up).
- nine_k 4y ago
  There is also a strong bias to reverting titles to the original formulation. We have a convention to add (year) to mark the date. We should take up a convention to add [context], too; e.g. [In Sydney] Backyard hens’ eggs contain 40 times more lead... I tried that several times, but mods often revert that. I wonder what @dang thinks about this.

jefftk 4y ago

I wouldn't be surprised if that's true: is there any reason to expect Australia to have higher than average lead levels? My understanding is that it's mostly from paint and gasoline, in which case it should be similar to the US and other countries.

acomjean 4y ago
I don’t think it’s an austrain problem. I know in the US it’s also an issue. Leaded gasoline is one of the drivers of all this lead in soil. When I was younger fuel was labeled “unleaded” when they took the anti-engine knock chemicals out. There is some lead naturally in soil but it’s generally low levels UMass has a lead in soil fact sheet: https://ag.umass.edu/soil-plant-nutrient-testing-laboratory/fact-sheets/soil-lead-fact-sheet https://ag.umass.edu/soil-plant-nutrient-testing-laboratory/... “The US EPA has set a safe soil lead threshold limit of 400 ppm total lead using this method. The US EPA also recommends that soils used for gardening fall below 100 ppm total lead. In Massachusetts, the regulatory safety threshold is 200 ppm total lead….To reduce your risk of lead poisoning, the following is advised: Good Gardening Practices to Reduce Lead Exposure -Locate gardens away from old painted structures and heavily travelled roads. -Give planting preferences to fruiting crops (tomatoes, squash, peas, sunflowers, corn, etc.). -Incorporate organic materials such as high quality compost, humus, and peat moss. -Lime soil as recommended by soil test (a soil pH of 6.5 to 7.0 will minimize lead “