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Fuck ArsTechnica. Center For Disease Control (CDC): “No safe blood level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to

Fuck ArsTechnica. Center For Disease Control (CDC): “No safe blood level in children has been identified. Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect a child's learning capacity, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. The effects of lead exposure can be permanent.” https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/docs/lead-levels-in-children-fact-sheet-508.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/docs/lead-levels-in-children-f... World Health Organization (WHO): “There is no known safe blood lead concentration; even blood lead concentrations as low as 3.5 µg/dL may be associated with decreased intelligence in children, behavioural difficulties and learning problems.” https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poison... Mayo Clinic: “There is no safe blood level of lead.” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisoning/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354723 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead-poisonin... Columbia University: “Lead and Children: No Amount of Lead is Safe” https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/lead-poison-and-children-no-amount-lead-safe https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/lead-poison-and-children...

tomtheelder 3y ago
Literally from the article: > JECFA most recently concluded that it was not possible to determine the health-protective limit. No level of lead is safe, per se. There is no safe level, but zero lead intake is also practically impossible, and the amount in chocolate is extremely low. That is the point they are making.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  That doesn’t mean throw up your hands and do nothing. It’s a spectrum… do what you can. Just like ingesting micro plastics. There are things you can reduce (but not eliminate) your intake, such as not microwaving plastic with food.
  - tomtheelder 3y ago
    For sure, but it also means don’t have a meltdown about minuscule amounts in a food that basically no one eats that much of anyway. Edit: aside from the Swiss, apparently
ruszki 3y ago
I hate this. “No known safe level” is not the same as “no safe level”. And that is not equal to “no amount”. Stupid press releases and newspapers use all three all the time. While in reality, we almost always can state only the first one. They just flat out lie. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t avoid it, and pay attention, but we shouldn’t think in absolutist terms either.

tomtheelder 3y ago

Literally from the article: > JECFA most recently concluded that it was not possible to determine the health-protective limit. No level of lead is safe, per se. There is no safe level, but zero lead intake is also practically impossible, and the amount in chocolate is extremely low. That is the point they are making.

TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
That doesn’t mean throw up your hands and do nothing. It’s a spectrum… do what you can. Just like ingesting micro plastics. There are things you can reduce (but not eliminate) your intake, such as not microwaving plastic with food.
- tomtheelder 3y ago
  For sure, but it also means don’t have a meltdown about minuscule amounts in a food that basically no one eats that much of anyway. Edit: aside from the Swiss, apparently

ruszki 3y ago

I hate this. “No known safe level” is not the same as “no safe level”. And that is not equal to “no amount”. Stupid press releases and newspapers use all three all the time. While in reality, we almost always can state only the first one. They just flat out lie. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t avoid it, and pay attention, but we shouldn’t think in absolutist terms either.