The media routinely and needlessly alarms parents about the risks of chemical exposure. Reporters who write chemophobic news stories of this sort follow a predictable pattern: craft a hyperbolic headline; use loaded terms like “harmful” and “toxic” without defining them; imply that children are in harm’s way even if they aren’t; quote an expert to give the story superficial credibility.
Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) followed this routine to the letter in a deeply misleading story about a new report published by scientists in the European Union (EU). “Harmful compounds lurk in childcare products, EU report says,” the article’s headline announced. The author mentioned vinyl chloride (VCM), a chemical used to manufacture PVC, as one such substance found in children’s products.
The problem? There isn’t a single piece of credible evidence to support that allegation.
Ignoring evidence
The C&EN story makes no mention of the fact that removing VCM is actually part of the PVC manufacturing process. The residual quantities are so negligible that scientists often can’t detect vinyl chloride in finished PVC products. Independent studies and research conducted by the FDA have confirmed this fact many times in recent years:
“Surveys of recent [PVC] resin data, reviews of pipe product certification reports, and recent food package testing by the [FDA] show that current residual vinyl chloride monomer (RVCM) levels in all grades of PVC resin typically are significantly below acceptable levels and that resulting fabricated products are typically at nondetect levels…”
The C&EN article contains several odd statements that make perfect sense in light of this information. For instance, the story reports that “the exposure of people who use the products in question is assumed and does not need to be specifically measured.” Elsewhere the author notes that “scientists assumed that children could be exposed to harmful compounds in childcare products.”
“In other cases,” the author writes, ”the compounds themselves were not directly detected but were instead suspected.” The story goes on to quote an ECHA toxicologist as saying “it’s possible that some vinyl chloride could be left in the polyvinyl chloride used to make a product such as a changing pad.”
By “assuming” and “suspecting” the “possible” presence of a compound that “could” pose a risk to children, EU officials skipped a fundamental aspect of the scientific method: drawing conclusions based on sound evidence. Worse, C&EN took the bait by promoting the flawed views of the study’s authors with a tantalizing headline that deceives parents about the safety of PVC.
Conclusion
Scientists have a responsibility to base their findings on facts, not speculation. LIkewise, journalists have an obligation to question those findings before auto-reporting them to an unwitting public. At the very least, readers expect media outlets to include an industry comment, which regrettably didn’t happen here.
When it comes to chemical safety, the media often ignores science and exaggerates the risks consumers face. News reports that make unfounded claims about threats to children aren’t journalism; they’re propaganda designed to push an agenda.