posted on Nov, 14 2004 @ 09:48 AM
Wow great thread... You bring up some obvious, and not so obvious points here.
1) People often don't realize that looking at who is paying for a study is an important part of it's validity, and thats not often something that is
publicized along with the results. For companies like Exxon, Bayer, and Dow to be footing the bill is a bit surprising. The fact Bayer, a drug
company, is in with an oil company and a chemical company is a little surprising also, so I looked at the link, and it may be a bit murkier. Those
companies all belong to a chemistry association, and it's the association that is funding the study - not those companies directly. Which brings me
to...
2) Look at who is publicizing the study and its sponsors, also. Is this spin for political gain? In this case, it's an "Organic Consumers" site
that seems to me like an agricultural Greenpeace. They might not be framing this study in an unbiased and accurate way.
3) There are rules about experiments. One of them is, that an experiment cannot be conducted if there is suspicion to do harm to a human individual,
or if harm is apparent during the study. That's one of the ethical guidelines one follows if they are a scientist. To flat out feed toxic chemicals
to babies intentionally to see what happens is not a valid experiment. Hmmm fishy.
4) Take a look at the claim on this study - it seems to hit every single 'hot button' that people might have. Pesticide fear, harming babies, taking
advantage of the poor, big business, and scoundrel sponsorship. Hmm again. Sounds like some good propoganda here.
5) This site never actually explains what the study does - only hints at it. One part mentioned the mothers *might* increase their use of toxic
chemicals around the home. Why? Is this study testing cleaning products? Medicines? Food? Giving baby a spoonful of toxins? It never says. Fishy.
Sounds to me like they want to drum up lots of support to stop this study for some reason be it political or financial. No real facts are given, just
hype to up the freak out factor of those reading the site, and it's probably working :/