This story amused me somewhat. It appears that there may be substances in Teflon, ScotchGuard and other ingenious products developed over the last few years that may be toxic to humans. The author went on to list a few products from the past that seemed like modern miracles that later turned out to be destructive to humanity and the environment: DDT, chlorofluorocarbons {CFCs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). I thought it humorous that in her first paragraph, Elizabeth Weise of USA TODAY stated: "Fifty years ago, Americans wrapped their sandwiches in waxed paper, poured their milk from glass bottles, wore rubberized coats when it rained, drove cars made from steel and reheated dinner in an old pie tin in the oven." Uh, Elizabeth, and their houses were full of asbestos, lead pipes and lead paint. I mean from the dawn of time, many innovations have had some effect on humanity or the environment. This is nothing new.
Then she went on to talk about the differences between the Europeans, who believe:
When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.and the American concept of making us all
part of an unregulated experiment that allows toxic chemicals to bioaccumulate in their bodies.Do your homework, lady, there is regulation of unsafe products in the United States. You can bet if a product makes enough people sick and no one did enough checking beforehand to understand that such would occur and put adequate warnings to the public regarding such hazards, there will be a lot of attorneys ready to make that company pay. Hitting big business in the pocketbook has created a greater concern for making safe products in American than any legislation could ever do. In fact, I expect now that you have published your story, there will be ads in all media:
Do you feel ill? Have you been cooking in Teflon? If so, you may be entitled to damages. Call the law firm of ....Posted by Tiger at April 25, 2003 06:09 PM