When ‘Protections’ Are Toxic

From Chris Woodward's column on OneNewsNow:

Canadian environmental ministers wanted to list the silicone known as Siloxane D5 as a "toxic substance." But after hearing from scientists, regulators have determined the chemical is safe. Angela Logomasini of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's (CEI) Center for Energy and Environment says regulators made the right choice.

"I look at this because it's more significant for us in a lot of ways — not just about one chemical or one issue, but about a host of policies that regulators and activists are pushing to take a lot of different products off the market," Logomasini reports.

And she says they are doing so without much science.

"One of the ways they do it is they just say this is a carcinogen, or because it gives rodents cancer, we should be concerned, when in fact, at exposure levels, it has no adverse health effects," the CEI senior fellow explains. "Taking them off the market would be more dangerous because they provide valuable protections — protections against food spoilage and things of that nature."

While Logomasini applauds the decision in Canada, she thinks it may be short-lived, as there is "a lot more coming down the pike," including new recommendations from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the same chemical that the Canadians just studied.