Stoking the Fear

Teenage boys are not afraid of dying – or at least don’t think about it very much. That’s evident by the number of stupid-trick videos that have been posted over the years. Everyone else though, seems to be thinking about it quite often – if not consciously, it lingers just below the surface making them a target for all the shocking news and advertising that comes our way. (Note that I often lump news and advertising together. The tactics of one is often to scare us into buying things; the tactics of the other is often to scare us into staying tuned in for the next story.)

One such scary story comes from a Duke University study. “Children living in homes with all vinyl flooring or flame-retardant chemicals in the sofa have significantly higher concentrations of potentially harmful semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in their blood or urine.” This is a family of chemicals widely used in the manufacture of electronics, furniture and building materials. Exposure is widespread among adults and children.

Exposure to the chemical used as a flame retardant in sofas “has been linked in laboratory tests to neurodevelopmental delays, obesity, endocrine and thyroid disruption, cancer and other diseases” and that used in vinyl flooring “has been linked to respiratory disorders, skin irritations, multiple myeolma and reproductive disorders.” 

Remember, the term linked to does not mean causes and laboratory tests are usually a very early step. At Duke they studied only 203 children over 3 years to see if the presence of the kind of sofa and flooring led to increased levels in their blood and urine, not to find any link. They assumed the link already existed based on previous studies. 

It’s likely that most people never heard of SVOCs or those specific chemicals before. But the news agencies pass this along as if it poses an imminent danger and may require immediate action. What are the alternatives – non flame retardant sofas? Vinyl flooring replaced linoleum that contained asbestos. Clearly this has to wind its way through the scientific community to establish safe exposure levels before it can make sense to anyone. Yet the news is quick to report it without qualification.

But it gets even nuttier!

About the same time I found the headline: “Toasters may expose you to more pollution than a busy intersection.” That’s right, that seemingly innocent appliance that we put bread in and push down the handle is trying to kill you. “A new study from the University of Texas at Austin warns that toasters, candles, and other household smoke makers expose people to more air pollution than standing in a busy intersection does.” Included on the list of indoor polluters are house cleaners, air purifiers and sprays, but toasters are the worst offender unless we only lightly singe the bread.

The information from both sources that I linked to also appeared in several other places. Some reporting was more thorough than others – it probably depends on time and space available. The main point, however, seemed to be an attempt to capture attention by warning that our sofas and toasters are hidden dangers.

Think of all the universities in the US and all the professors and graduate students at these universities looking for things to study, competing for funding and attention. They get attention by coming to ominous-sounding conclusions. A study saying, “Don’t worry about your air purifier” wouldn’t fly. That behavior by the researchers makes it so easy for the news media to fill space with dire warnings any time they want to. Without critical thinking and perspective a person could easily worry himself to death about all those things that might kill him.