Category: General Interest

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French Safety Agency Discovers 60 Toxic Chemicals including Glyphosate in Baby Diapers

French Safety Agency Discovers 60 Toxic Chemicals including Glyphosate in Baby Diapers

A report published Wednesday by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has warned about “the presence of different hazardous chemicals in disposable diapers that can migrate into the urine and come into prolonged contact with babies’ skin.” The list of chemicals is as long as it is disturbing. In total, ANSES identified some 60 chemicals, including glyphosate, the active chemical in Monsanto’s infamous herbicide Roundup. Some of the pesticides in the report have been banned in the European Union for over fifteen years, such as lindane, quintozene and hexachlorobenzene. Many fragrances, such as benzyl alcohol or butylphenyl were found. PCBs, dioxins, volatile organic compounds (naphthalene, styrene, toluene, dichlorobenzenes, etc.) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are usually found in cigarette smoke or diesel engines were also discovered. Since some of these chemicals have demonstrated carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) effects and are considered to be endocrine disruptors, the risks related to their exposure are not limited to the simple skin irritations observed by the vast majority of parents on their babies’ bottoms. https://sustainablepulse.com/2019/01/23/french-safety-agency-discovers-60-toxic-chemicals-including-glyphosate-in-baby-diapers/

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The Dangers of Overpersonalisation

Is Overpersonalisation Killing the Variety and Interest of Your User Experience?

One user even noted that because the content was boring she continued to scroll looking for something that was interesting, “I don’t find anything interesting on Facebook tonight but what’s funny is that I will keep scrolling until I do; it’s addicting.” This behavior is related to the Vortex phenomenon, which refers to people feeling sucked into the online world almost against their will through sticky design techniques (like continuous content feeds). Users seek the emotional payoff they get from a good piece of content. In these cases, the phone turns into a mini slot machine: they keep pulling the lever coming across dozens of losers in hopes of finally getting a winner.

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/overpersonalization/
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Salem Witch Trial

Salem Witch Trial

One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter’s high school class this winter. They’re learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game.

“I’m going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you’re a witch or a normal person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade.”

The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.

“Okay,” the teacher said. “You’ve got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands.”

No one raised a hand.

The kids were confused and told him he’d messed up the game.

“Did I? Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they’d been told?”

And that is how you teach kids how easy it is to divide a community.

Keep being welcoming, beautiful people. Shunning, scapegoating and dividing destroy far more than they protect. We’re all in this together.

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Chemicals used to fight BP spill were ineffective and toxic, study says

Oil Spill

The undersea use of chemical dispersants during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster likely did more harm than good, a new study says.

A University of Miami-led study indicates that the massive amounts of dispersants BP applied directly at the spewing wellhead – about a mile below the Gulf of Mexico’s surface – failed to curb the oil’s spread, and may have increased the disaster’s ecological damage.

The study is one of several in recent months that have questioned whether dispersant should be used at all. Other research cited in the UM study noted that dispersant appears to fight nature’s ability to clean-up after oil spills. A study by the University of Georgia indicates that dispersant kills or inhibits the growth of oil-eating microbes, including naturally-occurring bacteria that rapidly consume oil that dispersants only break apart.

Dispersant has also been linked to illnesses in humans and several types of marine life. The Gulf’s deep sea coral were found to suffer more from a dispersant-oil mix than oil alone.

“There is no upside in using ineffective measures that can only worsen environmental disasters,” said Claire Paris, a marine scientist and the UM study’s lead author.

BP declined to comment on the study. In the past, BP has said the use of dispersants was approved by federal environmental agencies and the Coast Guard.

University of Georgia marine scientist Samantha Joye said the study raises questions about whether dispersants should be used on future oil spills.

“These findings should change the way we think about spill response (and the) reprioritization of response measures,” said Joye, who assisted with the study.

The oil industry’s drilling in deeper water in the Gulf underscores the need for alternative measures for dealing with blowouts and spills, UM scientists said. The “capping stack” method BP used to plug the well nearly three months after the explosion might be a better first response strategy. The study’s authors also suggested more research into “bio-surfactants,” a less toxic and biodegradable option for breaking up spills.

https://www.nola.com/environment/2018/11/chemicals-used-to-fight-bp-spill-were-ineffective-and-toxic-study-says.html