fudging data helps, whether lead in Detroit or weed killer in drinking water

[Guest guest]

Lead-poisoned kids left untreated in Detroit.

<http://www.freep.com/article/20100708/NEWS01/7080404/Lead-poisoned-kids-left-un\

treated-in-Detroit>

By Joe Swickard Detroit Free Press 8 July 2010

Detroit's anti-lead program -- beset with alleged shakedowns and bogus

treatments, missing files, incompetence and mismanagement -- was upended

last year after such scorching claims were reported. Children such as

Christian s were turned down for treatment and suffered lasting

damage.

Among the sweeping reforms was a new standard, announced in March.

Instead of starting nursing care at 10 micrograms per deciliter -- the

recommended national standard -- the new threshold was set at 20,

creating a huge gap that denied more than three-quarters of Detroit's

lead-poisoned children care, critics said.

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Weighing safety of weed killer in drinking water, EPA relies heavily on

industry-backed studies.

<http://huffpostfund.org/stories/2010/07/weighing-safety-weed-killer-drinking-wa\

ter-epa-relies-heavily-industry-backed-studie>

By le Ivory Huffington Post Investigative Fund 8 July 2010

Companies with a financial interest in a weed-killer sometimes found in

drinking water paid for thousands of studies federal regulators are

using to assess the herbicide's health risks, records of the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency show.

Many of these industry-funded studies, which largely support atrazine's

safety, have never been published or subjected to an independent

scientific peer review. Meanwhile, some independent studies documenting

potentially harmful effects on animals and humans are not included in

the body of research the EPA deems relevant to its safety review, the

Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found. These studies include many

that have been published in respected scientific journals.

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[comment: very parallel to conflicts of interest in vaccination studies.

~]