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Poison, Poison Everywhere

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131–140 of 211 posts

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds interesting. I heard about oat's ability to absorb nasty stuff in the gut for awhile. However, in the UK oats are dried out using glyphosate...a known carcinogen! Feels like modern society makes it nearly impossible to not be exposed to harmful substances...so I hope you're successful.

I thought glyphosate was only a danger for people applying it (something that's been denied for a long time) Also as far as I know it goes into the weeds it kills, not in the plant you want to keep (is your food) ? Else it would also die ?

I heard that farmers ‘spray off’ the crop to kill it to make harvesting easier.

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought glyphosate was only a danger for people applying it (something that's been denied for a long time) Also as far as I know it goes into the weeds it kills, not in the plant you want to keep (is your food) ? Else it would also die ?

I heard that farmers ‘spray off’ the crop to kill it to make harvesting easier.

Is this a dirty hack or an intended use case ?

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#133
I'm no nutritional expert but from what I understand: If you look at traditional food people ate very different around the world but by some miracle all of those traditional diets cover all angles of nutrition. It seems to suggest that in the long run only cultures who eat a complete diet survive. You can of course survive for a really long time with all kinds of deficiencies but apparently time will catch up. How this happens I don't know but it isn't actually important. The point I wanted to make is that poison isn't even required. Unless you have experimental success after perhaps thousands of years of trial and error we would have to actively monitor and adjust everything with an iron fist. Specially this idea that anything goes unless harm is proven needs to go. There is an enormous amount of low hanging fruit but to do the entire job entirely will be a humongous undertaking.

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#134

I'm tackling part of the issue of food toxin remediation with my new venture, NeutraOat (neutraoat.com). It's a modified oat fiber supplement that selectively traps BPA, PFAS, and plasticizers in the gut and reduces levels in the blood serum. The funding for this is tough, though. Everyone loves the idea, but it's difficult to find people to fund R&D to make sure the product actually works over brand building and mar…

So I need to put something in my body to prevent other things in my body? I don't mean to be the party pooper but this is my first thought. Health conscious people care about plastics in their body and are probably shopping organic and what not. So you have a high hurdle to climb with any "modified" foods.

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a solution. There is no practical solution for this, and has not been for the millennia on human history; it's only been in the recent decades where we've been able the hallucinate about knowing about toxins in our daily lives. Legislation is just paper, you have no enforcement mechanism beyond what you already have currently: suing companies on a case by case basis.

Uh, it used to be until it was gutted in the last 30 years. Legislation and bureaucracy has been one of the most successful interventions for public health for centuries. Read about the hole in the ozone layer. Banning lead paint. Read about the invention of public water authorities. Read Silent Spring and read about its aftermath. Look into the history of air pollution and the EPA. These are some of the crown jewels…

Have legislation and bureaucracy been the driving force or the symptom?

Government action in democracies just about always lags public support (because you need the public to support a thing so you can say "elect me I'll do it" or "re-elect me I did it").

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#136
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lead in gas increased compression rations and allowed us to build higher horsepower engines. Lead is still used in avgas for this reason. Engine knock was a big problem at the time.

I wonder about lead levels in soil near gen aviation airports for this reason, and in the neighborhoods that sometimes get built on decommissioned runways.

I assume it's pretty inconsequential because if it weren't I'd hear real people talking about it (like with lead paint, and various forms of soil contamination) and as it stands I only hear fake internet comment section hand wringers hand wringing about it.

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#137
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's incredibly surprising to me that lead was added to gasoline specifically at all. I'd always assumed it was some expensive-to-remove byproduct of manufacture or something, so they left it in to save costs despite the risks. Why did this happen?

As I understand it, both tetra ethyl lead and ethyl alcohol are anti-knock agents. Lead was used because it was cheaper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiknock_agent

Ethanol has other downsides regarding corrosion and reacting with various organic and organic-ish (read: rubber) components. Those were bigger problems back then because everything was carbureted and they didn't have modern plastics.

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No amount of legislation will make it practical to do comprehensive chemical tests on every single domestic and imported product, or do comprehensive safety studies on every single chemical used in such products, or to handle the legal proceedings to prosecute all violations. Our society does not have the resources to sustain the incomprehensibly large regulatory and compliance industry needed to enforce a shadow of…

Counterpoint: yeah we do, we're already doing it. Of course, not everything has to be tested every time, that's where certifications come in - get your stuff tested when you first want to import something, get a certificate, don't need to get it tested again every time. But if you fail a spot check you lose the certificate and import righs.

Good luck with million+ products from ie China going through tens of thousands of companies. Or Bangladesh, Pakistan, Morocco, Vietnam and so on and on.

I get you guys, its the ideal and good to strive for, but then go out and check ie kids stores or any supermarket. Out of touch with reality.

And why is that? Since majority simply doesn't care.

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#139

Bloodletting is a solution. Donate blood as frequently as they allow you. Plasma donation works even better (higher frequency) if you trust the machines and the process. Sadly, it's not a complete solution as some harmful substances bio-accumulate in other tissues. A benefit may be had regardless as some substances leach back into the blood if the concentration gradient is sufficient.

The solution to bioaccumulation is to give it to someone else?

Re: Poison, Poison Everywhere

#140

What's worse, damage from lead or damage from constant obsession about lead?

Lead is actually dangerous. Arguably the panic from things which are .. much less well evidenced, shall we say, causes people to overlook the real problems.
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