Baby Bath Cancer
Trevor Butterworth from STATS.org sent us a link to this article he wrote a while back, and I’m just getting around to posting it now. He dissects “an alarming new report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics” that claims baby bath products are full of carcinogens. The media latched on to the study, and USA Today headlined a piece: “Group finds carcinogens in kids bath products.” Trevor Butterworth goes into detail about why this study isn’t very good. The basics: the study was published by an activist group, wasn’t peer reviewed, and well, it wasn’t um, whatchacall, scientific.
This is a great piece to read if you’re interested in how the media reports science, or how the media reports bad studies that aren’t science:
We need real science. And we need the media to be able to distinguish what counts as real science and what is merely self-serving activism.
Yay, science. Boo, self-serving activism. Oh, and also, boo, babies getting cancer from bath products.
Dan Said,
May 5, 2009 @ 4:48 am
great blog, if you want some great funky baby clothes, go here http://www.bubbaboom.com, and have the best looking kids!!