Junk Science Judo
A Short Course
Course Topics
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Course based on "Junk Science Judo" by Steve Milloy © 2001 Cato Institute. All rights reserved.
Mice Aren't People, Exposure Isn't Toxicity
Mice Aren't People: Mice and people are both mammals and have much biology in common. But mice and people differ in obvious and non-obvious ways. It's unwise to assume that chemicals act the same in laboratory rodents and people. Researchers recently estimated that 85% of all chemicals tested in the U.S. Government's National Toxicology Program were either carcinogenic or anti-carginogenic at some site in some sex-species group. The authors concluded, "This suggests that most chemicals given at high enough dose rates will cause some sort of perturbation in tumor rates" (16).
Exposure Isn't Toxicity: Chemicals are in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the consumer products we use. It's a fundamental principle of toxicology that "the dose makes the poison". Two or three aspirin will cure your headache. Two hundred will kill you. The corresponding junk science principle is "any dose is a poison". The Junksters count on your not knowing that exposure isn't toxicity. So, watch out for junk scientists who claim that humans are at risk because mice were given megadoses of some chemical.
