The Media Thinks You're Stupid (and So Does the Government!)

Bad news: the nanny state doesn't really know best, and the media doesn't really care to tell you about it.

"Tests reveal high chemical levels in kids' bodies," according to a recent article on CNN.com. We are quickly told two things: first, that fire retardant clothing has large amounts of a chemical called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or "PBDEs," in it, and second, that American children are wearing said fire retardant clothing.

Unfortunately, PBDEs cause cancer. Oops; the kids that the CNN story were about had concentrations of chemicals - including PBDEs - up to seven times higher than their parents did. So far most of the studies about PBDEs causing cancer have been done on animals, but - yes, it's anecdotal, but think about it - are you aware of anything that causes cancer in animals that's harmless to humans?

Babies wear a lot of fire-retardant clothing because the American government, via the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, has mandated that infants' sleepwear be flame retardant (an effort in the ongoing battle against infants lighting themselves on fire in their sleep). The government has kindly seen fit to exempt sleepwear for infants under 9 months from the regulations, which is almost more damning because it shows pretty clearly that the government has some awareness of how dangerous these chemicals are. Quite a bit of awareness, in fact. Anybody dealing with p-bromodiphenyl ether (a PBDE compound) is required to follow the EPA's rules under the federal hazardous waste management program. Washington (the West coast one) has already banned PBDEs in their state.

So, our babies (that are 9 months or older!) are wearing clothing containing toxic chemicals. Now, I would not be thrilled, but I could see this happening occasionally, accidentally (think the lead paint recalls from China earlier this year). But mandated by federal law?

Apparently in 1973, people were really concerned about children setting themselves on fire. Yes, okay, I think we can all get behind the idea that children being burned alive is a very bad thing, but our concern about it was vastly misplaced. In 1970, before the regulations took effect, there were 60 deaths of children under 15 as a result of fire. In 1987, there were only two. It's quite a jump in logic to say that this decrease was just the result of the fire-retardant clothing laws, since an uncountable other number of things happened in those 17 years that could have affected these numbers, and because the majority of the people under 15 are not wearing baby sleepwear. But even assuming that all that gain was because of the regulation, what's the trade-off we're making? Let's assume we're saving 58 lives a year - or, hey, even up it to 80, since the U.S. population's increased by about a third since 1970. In doing so, we're exposing right around ten million kids a year to a carcinogenic chemical. We collectively swallowed the spider to kill the fly.

But take heart! Now we know how dangerous PBDEs are, the media will get the word out, people will realize they don't want their kids exposed to the stuff, and they'll pester the government about it until they do something... right?

Sort of. But people seem to be getting their information about PBDEs - and all toxic chemicals - from very bad places. For the CNN article, they spoke to Elizabeth Whelan, the head of "the American Council on Science and Health, a public health advocacy group." She says that "trace levels of industrial chemicals in our bodies do not necessarily pose health risks."

Hmm, the American Council on Science and Health. Sounds like a good, reputable group of people on the subject of toxic chemicals. A quick Google of the group - which it seems like CNN would have done - reveals that they're funded by people who absolutely don't want bad things coming to light about industrial chemicals. To name a few: Dow Chemical, Pfizer, Exxon-Mobil, Monsanto, and the Altria Group (formerly Phillip-Morris). There are plenty more.

The FDA is now "working with chemical manufacturers" to determine the dangers of PBDEs and other industrial chemicals. They have also set up a voluntary testing program for chemical manufacturers to test - if they want - they safety of their chemicals.

This is a disgrace. If CNN wants to quote an industry lapdog for their reporting, fine. But they have an obligation to disclose that they're giving you information from a very interested party. There's tons and tons of organizations with pleasant-sounding names just like the "American Council on Science and Health" that are industry front groups - when people read about them, they sound legitimate, and CNN is happy to oblige them. Possibly because people like Pfizer and Exxon-Mobil and Monsanto are also fueling big advertising dollars to CNN.

So the media's not telling us what we need to know, and the government is going at the problem of toxic chemicals in everyday items with the help of the chemical industry.

They're paying off our newsmen. They're paying off our politicans. The chemical industry is not the only place where this sort of thing happens.

This is not okay. Tell your friends. Write your congressmen. Don't buy products from these people - in most cases, there are alternatives. Stand on a chair in the middle of an intersection and yell at the top of your lungs that you're mad as hell and you're not going to take it anymore! But do something. I will not go softly into that good night, into this endless hellish cycle of consumerism and greed of which our government and our industries are two sides of the same coin.

And neither should you.