IS WEEDKILLER IN BABY’S DIAPERS A PROBLEM FOR YOU?

IS WEEDKILLER IN BABY’S DIAPERS A PROBLEM FOR YOU?

My educational background was grounded in science and the scientific method. A hypothesis is presented, research undertaken, results analyzed, and a conclusion is drawn based upon the evidence. Scientists in all disciplines follow this practise. Today, however, I seem to have encountered research results on the same issue, that have arrived at different conclusions. It is starting to make me nervous. Can I no longer rely on the scientific method?

For example, there are varied opinions on the value of prescribing aspirin to seniors. People without heart trouble who took a daily low-dose aspirin had a lower risk of heart attack, stroke and death; however, the modest benefits gained were balanced by a major risk, as reported by recent research. The daily dose increased their risk of bleeding in the gut or in the skull. The US Preventive Services Task Force, for example, recommends that some older patients without heart trouble take a daily low-dose aspirin, while the European Society of Cardiology does not. The US medical research says yes to the practise and the Europeans say no. 

This difference of opinion by professionals in two different continents is troubling. I don’t know which practise is most beneficial, but it bothers me that the medical advise I receive would depend on where I live. Dr. John McNeil, a professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Australia reports that, “Aspirin confers no overall benefit to people over 70 and there was a suggestion of net harm.” I find mixed messages on critical health issues like this quite disturbing. Who should you believe?

Another example, was discovered in a very bizarre research report. France's national health agency Anses says it has found chemicals in babies' nappies (disposable diapers) that exceed safety levels. Tests found substances that are potentially dangerous to human health, including the controversial weedkiller glyphosate, the agency said.

Marketed under the name Roundup in the US, glyphosate is widely used but has been a frequent target for health and environmental campaigners after the World Health Organization study classified it as "probably carcinogenic”. But it remains the most widely used herbicide in Europe, as EU officials do not agree that the product is a carcinogen. Yet in the United States, a groundskeeper who sued a maker of the chemical was awarded millions in damages by jurors who agreed it had contributed to his terminal cancer. The weedkiller is due to be banned in France by 2021.

A specific chemical compound is found to be dangerous to human health in North America, but acceptable in Europe. How can this be? It either is, or is not, a dangerous substance! I would have thought that the research on the relative dangers would be conclusive. Again, it appears to be determined by the country you live in. A very unsettling situation in my mind. What has happened to the validity of quality research? Or are we now getting only sketchy and marginal research? I don’t know the answer, but something just doesn’t smell right to me. And it has nothing to do with the nappies!