The ABCs of j-u-n-k

Excerpted from The Little Black Book of Junk Science by Alex Berezow, published by the American Council on Science and Health. ABSOLUTE RISK

What’s the difference between .5% and 50%? A little or a lot when dealing with Absolute and Relative risk. If a paper claims eliminating bacon cuts your risk of heart attack by 50%, that sounds important. Unless the absolute risk goes from 1% to .5% and the relationships between bacon and heart attacks are unclear. Absolute risk is misused often in food studies. When benefits are presented in relative terms, while harms or side effects are in absolute terms, that is mismatched framing and you’re reading junk science.

BPA (BISPHENOL A)

BPA has been used since the 1950s to prevent food from spoiling. Environmentalists insist it is a health concern due to “endocrine disruption,” but the molecule binds poorly to cell receptors compared to actual hormones like estrogen, about 1/20,000th as well. The FDA has found no safety issue.

CELL PHONES

Cell phones are safe. The NIH’s National Cancer Institute cites studies — totaling over one million participants — that convincingly conclude that cell phones are not linked to cancer.

CORRELATION AND CAUSATION

It is often said that correlation does not mean causation, which is absolutely true, but correlation certainly implies causation. That’s why correlations are so interesting. But a correlation is simply not good enough. In medicine, a list of criteria created by Bradford Hill (Hill’s criteria of causation) guides researchers who are investigating the causes of disease. Before fearmongering about another scary chemical, the rational person will ask if Hill’s criteria of causation have been met.

DR. OZ (MEHMET OZ)

Dr. Oz, the self-appointed “America’s Doctor,” peddles alternative medicine and bogus weight-loss miracles. In a public rebuke, his colleagues cited an analysis that concluded that “less than half of the recommendations on his show are based on at least somewhat believable evidence.” They added that his “unsubstantiated medicine sullies the reputation of Columbia University and undermines the trust that is essential to physician-patient relationships.”

GLYPHOSATE

Popularly known as “RoundUp,” glyphosate is an herbicide associated with Monsanto, though it has been off-patent since 2000 and at least 40% of the world’s glyphosate comes from Chinese companies. All legitimate scientific regulatory bodies dismiss activist claims that glyphosate causes cancer, even the notoriously riskaverse European ones. Similar to antibiotics, the only problem with glyphosate is that there has been an increase in glyphosate-resistant weeds.

WIND POWER

Wind power could be a useful regional source of energy in windy places, but it won’t work on a national scale because it is too inconsistent and the technology to store and transmit large amounts of energy does not exist yet. Like geothermal or hydroelectric, wind power is best suited for places where nature has made it viable. Junk science in support of wind power has resulted in pointless subsidies, and junk science opposed to wind power claims it kills too many birds.