A golden oldie from the environmentalist war against the periodic table.
The news report is below.
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From an Associated Press news round-up
April 28,1993
Apparently there are not enough hazards to go around. The nice folks your tax dollars pay to protect you from the dangers they define are searching for job security.
Environmental Protection Agency officials have launched a new study to assess the risks of – brace yourself – taking showers. Seems someone in the EPA worries people might be injured by inhaling water vapor while taking a shower.
No, we didn’t make it up. It’s true, according to a publication called “EPA Watch.”
Doubtless, several bureaucrats will take home paychecks for months while the imagined hazard is studied. Unfortunately, there’s probably a 50-50 chance someone in Washington will decide showers really are dangerous.
Wonder if anyone at the EPA ever has studied the hazards of pouring billions of dollars into overregulation?
Dang I’m gettin old. I remember this one. It’s about time they resurrected and recycled it, make me feel young again. They do that with everything else. Like the fluoride scare, which is older than I am.
The phobia that EPA was peddling was that halo methanes, might be carcinogenic and that they might be present at high enough concentrations to cause cancer. EPA was primarily concerned about tri-chloromethane (i.e. chloroform). To the best of my knowledge EPA was never able to identify chloroform in the emissions from showers, nor did they have believable evidence that chloroform is carcinogenic. I believe that the dropped the issue. Hydrogen fluoride is unlikely to be an emission of showering with fluoridated water. HF is not a strong acid (it is less acidic than vinegar). The pH of tap water is always alkaline (pH from 7.2 to 7.6) There is no credible mechanism by which HF can be emitted from showering. Because of the weak acidity of HF, it could never compete with chloride ions for any miniscule concentration of hydronium ions. Emission of HCl is more likely, but even that does not seem to occur.
It’s not the chlorine, it’s all that dihydrogen monoxide.
Twenty years ago is about the same time when the wise ones in Lima turned the chlorinators off to protect people from cancer and other fearsome ailments. Surely by 4-28-93 the news of the outcome had been broadcast to the world.
Circumspection is too much to hope for.
I’d like to know the URL/reference to the original publication. Was fluoride mentioned?? Believe it or not in 2013 people believe that harm will come from showering with fluordated water. Crazy crap like this may well convince enough citizens for Portland Oregon to reject fluoridation in a May 21 vote.