Thimerosal

[Baldric]

Where I grew up (hello hurricane) the local Monsanto plant kept on pushing the thumbs up for the enviroment, but a good friend of mine's dad worked as a security officer at the plant and would tell us stories of watching birds fly through the plume and then plummet dead on the other side.

In one of my former occupations, I used to be an emissions tester.  Usually stack emissions enter the atmosphere at 500+ degrees F and they are clean from everywhere BUT coal fired power plants.  I would guess the birds got hit by the 500 degree plume and got cooked. 

[Fargull]

I am betting your right Baldric, though I am not positive as I never saw a dead bird myself.  The whole shot if you cross this fense thing kinda discouraged that behavior.

Very interesting though and makes sense.

[Llava]

They just interviewed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about this on the Daily Show today.

[Sky]

And he got cut off when he started making the point about how we are concerned about mercury in fish but not in immunizations. Too bad, the Daily Show should really get to stretch out when they have interesting guests (but what was up with his voice? poor guy).

In one of my former occupations, I used to be an emissions tester.  Usually stack emissions enter the atmosphere at 500+ degrees F and they are clean from everywhere BUT coal fired power plants.  I would guess the birds got hit by the 500 degree plume and got cooked.

My father retired out of nuclear safety (via being a fireman, heh). He always got a kick out of folks who screamed about his plant using lake water as a coolant. It wasn't a direct coolant, it ran lake water through pipes to cool the (shielded) inner circuit pipes, which contained the recycled coolant water, then ran the (safe, not irradiated at all, with safety measures in place, of course) lake water back out into the lake.

The enviros bitched it would kill and/or irradiate the fish and anarchy would ensue.

The reality? Best fishing on the lake from the warm currents.

[Ironwood]

Which is fine and a heart-warming story.  Except when the shielding fails and the lake is fucked forevermore.

Just sayin'.

[Murgos]

Which is fine and a heart-warming story.  Except when the shielding fails and the lake is fucked forevermore.

Just sayin'.

Right, because there are so many examples of that happening.  Oh nos!!! We can't have teh nuke!  It make me sic!

The cult of stupidity strikes again.

It's a cooling system, there can be multiple levels of heat sinks each independent of the other and entirely self contained.  You know?  Thermodynamics?  Heat transfer?  Conduction?  Meh, obviously not.

At one time I was an emergency responder for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, there is no way you could contaminate the surounding area with thier coolant.

I'm tired of people who don't know what the hell they are talking about trying to save me from people who do.

[Sky]

Ignorance is bliss?

[Hanzii]

It's not that nuclear power in itself is dangerous, it's that it's immensely powerful and in need of really good safety measures - those safety measures are built by the same people that built the Bhopal chemical plant and other such great engineering feats.

So of course safe nuclear power is possible, but cutting corners to make a quick buck (especially with the safekeeping for thousands of years, that nuclear waste needs, which certainly won't be making anybody a profit) is also a distinct possibility. So I might trust engineers, but not so much those making said engineers budgets...

[Murgos]

Nice avatar.  Is that Haemish?

[HaemishM]

Only on days I have to work with Powerpoint, Javascript or run sieges in Shadowbane.

[Shockeye]

Autistic Boy Dies After Undergoing Unproven Treatment

By Jennifer C. Yates Associated Press Writer
Published: Aug 25, 2005

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An autistic boy died after receiving an unproven treatment that some people believe may cure the neurological and developmental disorder.

Officials said they do not know for sure what killed Abubakar Tariq Nadama, 5, who died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack following his third treatment of chelation therapy at a suburban medical clinic.

The staff at his doctor's office performed CPR on the boy, but he was later pronounced dead in a hospital. More tests would be needed to determine the cause of death, said Deputy Coroner Larry Barr.

Chelation (pronounced key-LAY-tion) is often used in patients with sickle cell anemia, lead poisoning or other maladies. Its use dates to the 1940s.

The boy was undergoing the therapy at the Advanced Integrative Medicine Center in Portersville, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Neither the boy's doctor, Roy E. Kerry, nor a representative from the center returned a call for comment Thursday.

State police also were investigating.

Some people believe autism can be linked to a mercury-containing preservative once commonly used in childhood vaccines. Chelation therapy has been advocated as a remedy because it causes heavy metals to leave the body through urine.

During the treatment, chemicals are administered under the skin or orally. The chemicals bind to heavy metals in the body, and patients excrete the chemicals through urine.

One of the most common uses for chelation is lead poisoning, in which a synthetic chemical called EDTA is given to patients. It's unclear exactly how many people undergo the treatment.

"There are thousands of patients getting chelation at home at night in many parts of the world. And it's generally considered quite safe," said Dr. Lakshmanan Krishnamurti, a pediatric hematologist and director of the Sickle Cell Program at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved chelation only for acute heavy-metal poisoning that is confirmed by blood tests. Critics call the treatment risky and say there isn't enough evidence to link autism to mercury or lead toxicity.

"If I were a parent considering it, I would probably stop considering it. There is no clear evidence that you can make kids better with this," said Dr. Gervasio A. Lamas, a cardiologist at the Mount Sinai Medical Center-Miami Heart Institute.

Lamas said the therapy comes with risks, including possible kidney damage and in some cases heart problems.

The boy's mother, Marwa Nadama, said she did not blame the therapy, but was waiting for results of an autopsy.

[shiznitz]

Everyone loves to blame the "money-grubbing" drug companies. All drugs and medical devices go through an extensive testing process with strict standards. Then the device/drug get approved (or not) by a government entity, the FDA.

How would you do it better?

FDA approval does NOT protect companies from legal liability, although one could make a good case that it should.

The hot issue at the moment is autism. Once the vaccines became suspect, the drug companies changed ingredients. What more do you want?

There is no possible way to test every substance with 100% reliability. We would have no drugs at all if that was the standard. Yes, it would be great to figure out why autism has spiked but taking to the streets like an angry mob doesn't solve anything.

[voodoolily]

Everyone loves to blame the "money-grubbing" drug companies. All drugs and medical devices go through an extensive testing process with strict standards. Then the device/drug get approved (or not) by a government entity, the FDA.

Except that some drugs are tested only on animals before they get FDA approval. I know this example is dated, but thalidomide was infamously found to be perfectly safe to treat morning sickness in pregnant women by tests on rabbits. Result?



Flipper babies.

Edit: oops! thalidomide was never FDA-approved because there had been insufficient proof that it wasn't harmful to humans. It was used in Europe and Canada. Oh well! shiznitz gets the cookie.....this time.

[Fargull]

There is no possible way to test every substance with 100% reliability. We would have no drugs at all if that was the standard. Yes, it would be great to figure out why autism has spiked but taking to the streets like an angry mob doesn't solve anything.

I knew those villagers with pitchforks and torches were heading someplace specific last night.

Are you positioning literate arguments with mob mentality?

[voodoolily]

I personally think that taking to the streets like an angry mob is an excellent way to change legislation. I mean, look what it's done to stop the war. Oh, wait.

[shiznitz]

There is no possible way to test every substance with 100% reliability. We would have no drugs at all if that was the standard. Yes, it would be great to figure out why autism has spiked but taking to the streets like an angry mob doesn't solve anything.

I knew those villagers with pitchforks and torches were heading someplace specific last night.

Are you positioning literate arguments with mob mentality?

I am not challeneging the arguments. I am challenging the hysteria that fails to offer any solutions or to condemn good faith efforts to fix problems as coverups.

[Llava]

That baby above looks like an otter.

[Samprimary]

Everyone loves to blame the "money-grubbing" drug companies.

Suspicion and query are my games. I take particular interest in the majority leader lobby kickbacks, and their correlation to .. say, legal immunities buried in anti-terror legislation. Tends to raise some flags, you know.

[HaemishM]

Everyone loves to blame the "money-grubbing" drug companies. All drugs and medical devices go through an extensive testing process with strict standards. Then the device/drug get approved (or not) by a government entity, the FDA.

Vioxx. As well as the tons of so-called herbal remedies that do not have to go through FDA approval because they aren't positioned as 'drugs' even though they are marketed as 'medical.'