WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Steven Milloy, publisher of the Junk
Science Home Page warned parents today that Consumers Union and the ABC News
program "20/20" plan to use "junk science" to launch a scare about the safety
of plastic baby bottles.
The "20/20" program will report that certain chemicals leach in small
amounts from the bottles. Consumers Union will then release an article titled
"Baby Alert; New Findings About Plastics" from the May issue of its magazine
"Consumer Reports."
"The scare is classic junk science," said Milloy. "It's utterly bogus
research, publicized to further special agendas; Consumers Union wants to
scare the public about chemicals and '20/20' wants ratings."
Consumers Union and "20/20" will rely on studies by University of Missouri
researcher Frederick vom Saal who has reported small amounts of chemicals
affect the sexual development of mice.
"Vom Saal's claims are unique and unverified," says former government
scientist Michael Gough. "Before they can be considered as 'science,'" Gough
said, "they must be duplicated by other scientists. No one has reproduced vom
Saal's work. The best that can be said is his results are a mystery."
While vom Saal is unafraid of airing his views before a friendly
television interviewer, he is leery of challenge from his peers. "Vom Saal was
scheduled to appear last week at a meeting of the Toxicology Forum in
Washington, D.C. to defend his results. But vom Saal backed out at the last
moment, apparently concerned his claims wouldn't stand up to scrutiny from
fellow scientists," said Milloy.
Consumers Union has a history of promoting health scares. Last February,
Consumers Union issued a report claiming fruits and vegetables contained
dangerous levels of pesticide residues. That report was debunked as being
without scientific merit by the Society of Toxicology.
"Television news magazines should be wary of cozying up to activist
groups," said Milloy. "Sensationalizing questionable studies for the sake of
ratings will only make people dismiss the reports and change channels," Gough
added.
For more information, visit the Junk Science Home Page
(http://www.junkscience.com).
SOURCE Junk Science Home Page
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Related links:
http://www.junkscience.com
CONTACT:
Steven J. Milloy of the Junk Science Home
Page, 202-467-8586, fax: 202-467-0768, or e-mail: milloy@cais.com
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