/oss/taxonomy/term/726/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/macropanic-over-nanoplastics <p>I keep teasing my analytical chemist colleagues that they are responsible for the anxiety that so many people have about chemicals invading their lives. Hardly a day goes by without some report of phthalates, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pesticides, dioxins, bisphenol A, or a host of other mischievous “toxins” being detected in our food and water. That detective work is carried out by analytical chemists who continue to devise better and better means to uncover smaller and smaller amounts of contaminants.</p> Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:48:05 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9800 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-history/dmso-not-cure-all-fdas-panic-over-it-birthed-myth <p>Imagine a drug so powerful, your government didn’t want you to have it. Now, add the claim that this drug is all natural (it’s not) and that people report it cured them of any ailment you can think of, and you have the recipe for a good old-fashioned conspiracy theory.</p> Fri, 17 Nov 2023 15:37:28 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9731 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/they-are-abbreviated-pfas-are-they-destined-abbreviate-our-lives <p>“Not everything that can be counted, counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” That quote is commonly attributed to Einstein although there is no evidence he ever said it. Even if he did, he certainly didn’t have toxicology in mind. But the concept is very relevant to toxicology, especially these days when substances can be detected at the part per trillion level. How small is a part per trillion? That would be 1 cent in 10 million dollars or one second in 32,000 years, which is longer than human civilization.</p> Wed, 01 Mar 2023 21:22:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9418 at /oss /oss/article/history-general-science/end-gilders-palsy <p>Physicians today are unlikely to encounter “Gilder’s palsy.” But prior to the 19th century this ailment had to be considered when a patient presented with tremors, irritability, increased salivation and fatigue. The culprit was mercury. And the patient may very well have been a “gilder.”</p> Fri, 24 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9414 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/you-dont-need-binder-your-detox-kit-and-you-dont-need-detox-kit <p>“You don’t even know what a binder is when you’re doing a parasite cleanse. I came from Western medicine and I didn’t know what a binder was! We didn’t use those!” So says Kim Rogers, who proclaims herself a “worm queen,” to <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mrsrogershood/video/7170453152649465131">her nearly half a million followers on TikTok</a>.</p> Fri, 13 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9358 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/concerns-about-cookware-chemistry <p>Like most chemists, I like to cook.  After all, what is cooking but the appropriate mixing of chemicals?  In the lab we use flasks and beakers, but how do we equip our kitchen?  Tiffany's in New York offers a silver frying pan for thousands of dollars, specialty stores sell gleaming copper pots for a couple of hundred while a thin aluminum pot can be had almost anywhere for a few bucks.  What's the difference? </p> Fri, 21 Jan 2022 19:45:13 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9001 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/why-covid-19-prompting-questions-about-proposition-65 <p>The tentacles of COVID-19 reach into every area of life. I’ve been getting a flurry of calls about vacuum cleaners, air filters, and cordless hair clippers. Sales of these items have increased because of concerns about the coronavirus with people wanting to reduce any possible transmission by dust or air. People have even resorted to cutting hair at home instead of venturing to the hairdresser. But the calls I have been getting about these items have nothing to do with the virus. Not the coronavirus anyway.</p> Wed, 19 Aug 2020 15:56:47 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8366 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science-you-asked/what-hormesis <p>Just about every textbook of toxicology pays homage to Paracelsus, the sixteenth century alchemist. Why? Because he introduced the idea that “only the dose makes the poison.” It makes no sense to talk about the toxicity of a substance, Paracelsus said, without talking about the extent of exposure. A high dose can be lethal, but minute amounts of the same substance may be perfectly safe. This really is the approach authorities take today to determine the toxicity of substances to which we are likely to be exposed.</p> Sat, 25 Jan 2020 00:21:22 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8092 at /oss /oss/article/health/dental-floss-toxic <p>A recently published paper in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology managed to create a great deal of public angst about using some types of dental floss. “This is the first study to show that using dental floss containing PFAS is associated with a higher body burden of these toxic chemicals,” opined lead author Katie Boronow of the non-profit Silent Spring Institute in Massachusetts.</p> Fri, 18 Jan 2019 17:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7542 at /oss /oss/article/health/what-difference-between-organic-and-inorganic-arsenic <p>Atoms of arsenic can combine with atoms of other elements to form a variety of compounds. These can be divided into two categories, “inorganic” and “organic.” In this case, the term “organic” is used in its proper chemical sense, referring to molecules that have a framework of carbon atoms. In an “organic” arsenic compound, the arsenic atom is attached to a carbon that may, for example, be part of a sugar molecule such as ribose. This "organic" variety is more complicated in structure, but it is harmless.</p> Thu, 30 Aug 2018 19:31:39 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7325 at /oss /oss/article/environment/chlorpyrifos-controversy <p>“Science not silence,” screamed the signs carried by many of the marchers in a number of American cities last Earth Day.</p> Wed, 07 Jun 2017 16:35:54 +0000 Cassandra Lee, OSS Intern 2536 at /oss /oss/article/food-health-news-toxicity/crafty-kraft <p>Kraft processed cheese singles, at least the full fat version, is not the same anymore. You won’t notice any change in taste though because the only difference will be a substitution of one preservative for another. Sorbic acid is out, natamycin is in. Why? Not because it is a more effective preservative. Both inhibit the growth of moulds, yeast and fungi. But since it is isolated from a soil bacterium, natamycin can be promoted as a “natural” preservative. And that sells!</p> Wed, 12 Feb 2014 05:47:20 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2096 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-health-toxicity-you-asked/you-asked-should-we-be-concerned-about-parabens-cosmetics <p>Not if you look at the numbers. Many cosmetics now advertise "no parabens," as they cater to chemical paranoia. Parabens are very effective preservatives and prevent bacterial growth in creams and lotions. The reason that they have made news is that they have estrogenic activity. But the fact is that this activity by comparison to the body's natural estrogen is essentially insignificant, some 10,000 times less. Based on studies carried out with animals, the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) has been determined to be about 800 mgs per kg of body mass.</p> Fri, 28 Aug 2015 14:30:57 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2281 at /oss /oss/article/food-health-history-news-quirky-science-toxicity/beer-foam-and-artificial-hips <p>Forty eight years ago there was an epidemic of heart failure in Quebec City. The clue was that the thirty men affected were all beer drinkers. In a round about way, the culprit was the introduction of a new dish washing detergent that left a residue on glasses. Detergent is the enemy of foam on beer and brewers countered the problem by adding a foam boosting agent, cobalt sulphate, to their product. It seems the potential toxicity of the cobalt compound was not considered. It should have been because cobalt affects the heart and causes heart failure.</p> Wed, 05 Mar 2014 11:04:57 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2108 at /oss /oss/article/cosmetics-health-history-quirky-science-toxicity-you-asked/cave-paintings-mms <p>Studies have shown that red is the colour that attracts attention. Its uses are timeless and endless. Since ancient times, the colour red has been involved in fashion, art, food and cosmetics. But how was the colour red extracted or manufactured? Interestingly, throughout the ages, humans have resorted to different minerals and chemicals to successfully produce various shades of red.</p> Fri, 22 Nov 2013 00:21:45 +0000 Alexandra Pires-Ménard, OSS Intern 2035 at /oss