No news is good news especially when broadcasters heap lies and insults on the chemical industry
What ABC News' website story, "Chemicals in Toys, Furniture May Face Tougher Standards," was trying to do, I'm not sure.
ABC News ostensibly had an article about how the American Chemistry Council, as well as industry giants like Dow Chemical and DuPont, support the new bill by Senator Frank Lautenberg (Democrat-New Jersey), a reform of 1976's Toxic Substances Control Act.
But if anything, the article takes the opportunity to give the chemical industry a beat-down. Author Dalia Fahmy writes, "Products on American store shelves now contain a whopping 89,000 chemicals, with a core group of 3,000 making up about 95% of the chemicals in use."
Ahhh, I get it: the author is taking that withered and dreadfully dull stance that all chemicals are an evil unleashed on the earth by Lucifer's minions.
Oh, Auntie, if only we could ban each and every chemical, then we'd never have to worry about people drowning in those evil lakes of di-hydrogen monoxide!
Do they know that there are at least 60 naturally occurring chemicals in the human body, including - gasp! - carbon. Isn't anyone thinking of the children? Something must be done!
Conspiracy? No thanks
It was reading the following quote that really enraged me, and set my fingers clattering across the keyboard:
"Although chemicals known to harm human health - such as mercury and asbestos - were making it into everything from computers to carpets, the government had no power to enforce bans. The chemical industry seemed untouchable."
Folks, let me tell you: It was never like Fu Manchu and Darth Vader got together in the back room of a saloon and came up with a plan to kill humanity via poisonous household products, you know? Mistakes were made, sometimes people got greedy, some people still are greedy, but there was never a conspiracy to do ill to customers - the last thing a company wants to do.
ABC News' story was shocking in how typical - and dull - it was in its tried and true methods of fear-mongering. C'mon guys, the chemical industry is an easy target; you've got to try a little harder to paint it with a black brush.
