A strange regulation exists in the American state of California, called Proposition 65, which requires apartment complexes, schools, etc., to post warning signs if any chemicals used on the property (e.g. detergents and suchlike) can cause cancer. Some of these, such as the one pictured left, do not sound very reassuring. You'd think that people should stop using such substances rather than warn others that they are being exposed to them. It's a strange world.
I was made aware of this through an interesting comment that Aardvark reader Jann posted here today.
Jann wrote:
We have a strange situation here in California, where warnings, the purpose of which, is, I believe to protect people, seem to be having the opposite effect. I'm talking about Proposition 65, which requires that apartment complexes, schools, etc., post signs warning people about chemicals used on the property, chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects. See:
http://tinyurl.com/ydybhnz
http://tinyurl.com/ydvdl32There are many chemicals these places use, (yes, even schools), e.g., for gardening, which is a year round thing in southern California; pesticides, herbicides, fungicides; the list is quite long. The irony is the attitude these places have about these chemicals; they seem to think the purpose of the signs is to protect them from liability, and that as long as they have the signs prominently displayed, they can do whatever they want with these toxic substances. When I ask about chemicals used, all I hear is, "The signs protect us."
"Do you use these chemicals over there on that grass where the children play?", I ask.
"Oh, yes," they tell me.
"And do you keep the children off the grass for awhile after you use the chemicals?"
"No, we don't have to. The signs protect us," they tell me.
"Who protects the children?" I ask.
Blank stares is all I get.And, of course, all these substances end up in the groundwater, the rivers, the ocean.
XML Feeds:
On the subject of not being very reassured vis-à-vis exposure to chemicals, see:
http://tinyurl.com/ybckega
(One in ten Americans exposed to drinking water with dangerous chemicals…);
To read about how efforts to clean the air result in poisoned water see:
http://tinyurl.com/yfjrssz
“It’s like they decided to spare us having to breathe in these poisons, but now we have to drink them instead,” said Philip Coleman, who lives about 15 miles from the plant and has asked a state judge to toughen the facility’s pollution regulations. “We can’t escape.”
We can breathe our poison or drink it – but dirty air can actually result in children’s lungs not developing properly; see:
http://tinyurl.com/d4akk2
Also of interest re America’s poisoned waters:
http://tinyurl.com/yhjd5ba