Chemicals All Around

Scott LaFee
Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:00:00 -0700
Lifestyle

In a new survey of more than 5,300 people by the Pew Charitable Trusts, more than 70% of adults said they were at least somewhat concerned about harmful chemicals in food and drinking water. Almost 85% said the government needs to do more "to identify and regulate harmful chemicals found in everyday products," a sentiment reflected across the political spectrum.

More than 10,000 chemicals have been approved for use as food additives in the U.S., with thousands more accidentally introduced through packaging. More than 80 contaminants in drinking water are regulated, but officials say at least 45% of U.S. tap water contains one or more "forever chemicals," of which more than 12,000 types exist.

Contrarily, the Trump administration recently advocated greater use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate after the EPA determined that glyphosate (found in the popular weedkiller Roundup) doesn't pose a risk to human health when used appropriately.
Updated: Wed Mar 18, 2026

In a new survey of more than 5,300 people by the Pew Charitable Trusts, more than 70% of adults said they were at least somewhat concerned about harmful chemicals in food and drinking water. Almost 85% said the government needs to do more "to identify and regulate harmful chemicals found in everyday products," a sentiment reflected across the political spectrum.

More than 10,000 chemicals have been approved for use as food additives in the U.S., with thousands more accidentally introduced through packaging. More than 80 contaminants in drinking water are regulated, but officials say at least 45% of U.S. tap water contains one or more "forever chemicals," of which more than 12,000 types exist.

Contrarily, the Trump administration recently advocated greater use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate after the EPA determined that glyphosate (found in the popular weedkiller Roundup) doesn't pose a risk to human health when used appropriately.

The World Health Organization classifies it as a probable carcinogen, and studies have found that 80% of Americans have detectable levels in their bodies.

Body of Knowledge

The places where your upper and lower eye lids meet (the outer and inner corners of the eye) are each called a canthus. Plural: canthi.

Get Me That, Stat!

Between 2021 and 2023, one in six people on Medicare used telehealth, according to new data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Nearly half of all mental health visits were conducted via telehealth, which involves using communications tools like video conferencing, phone calls and the internet.

People who made virtual appointments reported worse health, greater physical and cognitive limitations, and higher health care utilization overall than those who went in person, suggesting that the service can be a vital lifeline for many.

Doc Talk

Osteocephaly: Medical slang for boneheaded; not to be confused with otocephaly, a very real and lethal (but fortunately rare) congenital abnormality in which newborns lack development of the lower jaw and mouth.

Phobia of the Week

Gamophobia: Fear of marriage, proving commitment is no game.

Food for Thought

Polydimethylsiloxane (or sometimes just dimethicone) is a silicon-based organic polymer used in contact lenses, shampoos, caulking, Silly Putty, lubricants and foods (primarily cooking oils, where it acts as an antifoaming agent).

Best Medicine

A pair of cows were talking in the field. One says, "Have you heard about the mad cow disease that's going around?"

"Yeah," the other cow says. "Makes me glad I'm a penguin."

Observation

"Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat." — American writer Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)

Medical History

This week in 1885, a medical report of the deformities of Joseph Carey Merrick was presented to the Pathological Society of London by Dr. Frederick Treves. After a brief career as a professional "freak," Merrick became the best-known resident patient at London Hospital from 1886 until his death in 1890.

Merrick, known as the "Elephant Man," had an enormous head (3 feet in circumference), with large bags of brownish spongy skin hanging from the back and across his face. His deformed jaws limited his speech to an almost unintelligible stutter, and he was unable to show facial expression.

Modern researchers have concluded Merrick likely suffered from an extremely rare progressive condition called Proteus syndrome. It is caused by mutations to the AKT1 gene.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2014, the Ig Nobel Prize in psychology went to a trio of researchers who found that people who habitually stay up late (i.e., night owls) are, on average, more self-admiring, more manipulative and more psychopathic than people who habitually arise early in the morning.

Self-Exam

True or false: Stress can cause hair to turn gray.

True. Norepinephrine, also known as noradrenaline, is a neurotransmitter that conveys the body's fight-or-flight response. It has been shown to cause graying when injected into otherwise unstressed lab mice.

Medical Myths

Mattress makers say you should buy a new mattress at least every 10 years because, in part, your used one has doubled in weight, thanks to an accumulation of dead skin, dust mite colonies, oil and moisture.

Mattresses do absorb dead skin, oils and moisture over time. And dust mites do enjoy living inside mattresses, where they feed upon all that dead skin. But the doubling-in-weight claim is likely bogus, a marketing ploy.

No one has ever conducted a study of accumulating mattress weight, but Ohio State University researchers have estimated that a typical used mattress may contain 100,000 to 10 million resident mites and their accumulated droppings.

The mites, though, are microscopic and hardly weigh anything, individually speaking. They're also generally harmless to people, though they or their feces can cause allergic reactions in some people, particularly those with asthma.

Last Words

"Stopped." — Surgeon Joseph Henry Green (1791-1863), as he was checking his own pulse on his deathbed. By some accounts, Green was slightly more long-winded and declared, "It's stopped."