/oss/taxonomy/term/261/all en /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/awash-carcinogens <p>Sir Percival Pott took an interest in the scrota of men. Particularly chimney sweeps. Pott was an eminent surgeon who in 1775 published a seminal paper that for the first time identified an environmental factor as a cancer-causing agent. He had observed an unusually high incidence of scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps and noted that soot was commonly embedded in the lesions. This led Dr. Pott to conclude that exposure to soot was a risk factor for cancer. He was correct! Soot contains a number of chemicals that have been identified as carcinogens.</p> Wed, 12 Apr 2023 16:56:17 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9476 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience/claptrap <p>Back in the 18<sup>th</sup> century, a theatrical line that was delivered to shamelessly elicit or “trap” applause from the audience was referred to as “claptrap.”  The line usually didn’t have much meaning and claptrap became synonymous with nonsense.  Unfortunately, because of necessity, it has become a very popular word in my vocabulary. Rapper Nicki Minaj tweets about a cousin’s friend’s testicles swelling after a COVID vaccine. What can I say? Claptrap!</p> Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:47:12 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8865 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/droning-preacher-mitochondrial-ecstasy <p>Sometimes a highly credentialed person steeped in the sciences has a misleading epiphany and makes a 90-degree course correction, building a large following of people who resonate with their new guru’s pseudoscientific ideas. Social media and our collective hunger for easy solutions allow these charismatic leaders to thrive.</p> Fri, 05 Feb 2021 15:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8604 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-pseudoscience-environment/dr-stephanie-seneff-strikes-out-again-glyphosate-and-covid-19 <p>An MIT computer scientist with no expertise in agriculture, chemistry, toxicology, or the biological sciences. And yet for some reason, <a href="https://www.csail.mit.edu/person/stephanie-seneff">Stephanie Seneff</a> has decided that genetically modified foods are the tools of the devil and that glyphosate (Roundup), the herbicide used to kill weeds in fields of crops that have been genetically modified to resist it, is responsible for many of society’s ailments.</p> Fri, 01 May 2020 16:56:23 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8232 at /oss /oss/article/environment/glyphosate-trial <p>First of all, let’s point out that this trial dealt with occupational exposure to glyphosate and had nothing to do with trace amounts of the chemical in our food supply. Nevertheless, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in Washington, an advocacy organization that is a long-standing critic of the use of glyphosate, took the opportunity to ride on the coat tails of the publicity garnered by the California lawsuit to publish a report about traces of glyphosate in oat products and suggested that these were a threat to health.</p> Thu, 16 Aug 2018 17:38:12 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7310 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/should-we-worry-about-glyphosate-residues-wine <p><span>Scarcely a day goes by without some scary story about glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide. It is best known as the active ingredient in Monsanto’s “Roundup” which is used to kill weeds in fields planted with seeds that have been genetically engineered to produce crops that are resistant to glyphosate. Fields can be sprayed to kill weeds without harming crops. But glyphosate has many other applications as well. It is used to kill weeds in orchards, clear railroad tracks and eliminate weeds in urban settings.</span></p> Thu, 08 Mar 2018 18:02:33 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 6958 at /oss /oss/article/glyphosate-conundrum <p>Glyphosate is probably the most widely used herbicide in the world. It is also the most controversial. Why? For one, it is the herbicide that crops like canola, corn and soy have been genetically engineered to resist, and any reference to genetic modification is guaranteed to spark debate. Add to this the listing of glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the fact that glyphosate residues are commonly found in foods and therefore in our bloodstream, and you have the makings of a major brouhaha! </p> Fri, 17 Mar 2017 02:27:32 +0000 Dr. Joe Schwarcz 1544 at /oss