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Sticky Plastic Cancer Bottles

 

A friend recently sent me the following email:

(I have abbrieviated the email for time. You can read the whole stupid masterpiece here.)

Subject: Cancer Update
PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE - READ IT ALL!!
This is not just for women:
From Johns-Hopkins
Bottled water in your car is very dangerous!
 
On the Ellen show, Sheryl Crow said this is what caused her breast cancer.  It has been identified as the most common cause of the high levels of dioxin in breast cancer tissue.

Sheryl Crow's oncologist told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a car. The heat reacts with the chemicals in the plastic of the bottle which releases dioxin into the water.

Dioxin is a toxin increasingly found in breast cancer tissue. So please be careful and do not drink bottled water that has been left in a car.   Pass this on to all the women in your life. This information is the kind we need to know that just might save us! 

Use a stainless steel canteen or a glass bottle instead of plastic!

LET EVERYONE WHO HAS A WIFE / GIRLFRIEND / DAUGHTER KNOW PLEASE!

This information is also being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
No plastic containers in microwave.
No water bottles in freezer
No plastic wrap in microwave.

A dioxin chemical causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

Recently, Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program t.....  Instead, he recommends using glass, such as  Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food.. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else......

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life!
 

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The Sticky Meme of the Plastic Cancer Bottle

This is a beautiful example of an internet meme, and fits many of the characteristics of the sticky story laid out in the best seller "Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath, a fabulous discussion of what makes a story like an urban myth stick in our minds. You can purchase "Made to Stick" right now at our store (via Amazon) HERE.

Memes like this have several reasons for spreading:

1. They are often spread by intelligent, educated people.
2. They have several forms of "Authority" - Ellen, Johns Hopkins and an "anti-authority" (Sheryl Crow - The Rock and Roll cancer survivor)
3. At some level it makes "common" sense.
4. Plays on the visceral fear of cancer, a very sticky subject.
5. Plays on the fear of industry.
6. There is urgency placed throughout the message - "LET EVERYONE WHO HAS A WIFE .....PLEASE"
7. They quote experts and institutions you know, as well as ones we've never heard of.

Some facts on Dioxins...

1. Your car would have to be ON FIRE for dioxins to be created.
2. Even if you did burn your plastic bottles, most drinking water bottles do not even have the constituent chemicals to actually create dioxins.
3. Most dioxins are industrially created in chemical plants, and during the extreme high temperature burning of refuse
4. By far the largest amounts of Dioxins are ingested by humans via meat, or more specifically fats in red meat. (I'm not vegan, this fact is brought to you by wikipedia.)

Still - Does it make sense to trust industry? No, and this is the moral of these types of stories. Another thing that makes them "sticky." 

And here is the point of the whole story...

Even the completely rational, educated and thoughtful person will still think somewhere in their mind that this hoax is a fact.

And they will act accordingly.
 
Jon Miles
Two Dragons

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Resources for the Curious

Here is a link to the Snopes.com page about plastic bottles as well as a link to some great email hoaxes.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/plasticbottles.asp
http://joewein.net/hoax/hoax-sheryl-crow-cancer-john-hopkins-update.htm

 

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Post Script - Some Water Bottle Facts Worth Knowing:

1. It takes approxmately 8 bottles of water to make 1 bottle of water. Bottled water has an huge impact on local water resources.

2. American Drinking water is taken for granted. An interesting, albeit industry sponsored site on tap water is here - Drinktap.org

3. There is a real heatlh issue with another type of chemical called BPA. You can read a real news story about BPA leaching from plastic bottles into humans here.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090521141208.htm

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