132
votes
Accepted
Is there plastic microfiber in 83% of tap water?
The study by Orb Media was subject for articles in German news website Spiegel Online (commercial) and WDR (public service broadcasting). Both articles, quoting staff from the German Federal ...
- 18.9k
56
votes
Accepted
Are Unvaccinated Children Healthier?
Summary: The survey this article was based on was biased, poorly designed and poorly implemented. The conclusions cannot be trusted.
This study was examined by Orac who has been "checking in ...
- 137k
51
votes
Does 5G pose health risks?
I would say this is
Not True
Just going by the sentence you’ve highlighted:
Health experts believe this increased exposure to 5G will have a devastating impact on our health.
It’s already ...
- 614
25
votes
Accepted
Does Flint have a much lower rate of lead poisoning than it had two decades ago?
His data are approximately correct. He gives all the sources and assumptions at the bottom of the article as well as a spread sheet with all the data.
Compare his data to Preliminary state data shows ...
- 102k
24
votes
Accepted
Does Vitamin D created by sun exposure get washed off in the shower?
Breakdown of the claims
There are a couple of claims contained together in this question.
Vitamin D is formed on the skin (as well as in).
Relatively large amounts remain on the skin or are secreted ...
- 43.7k
23
votes
Accepted
Are US sunscreens less effective due to FDA regulations?
Do FDA regulations make US sunscreens less effective than international products?
Unlike the EU, FDA regulations do not dictate standards or minimum requirements for UVA protection in sunscreen. Also ...
- 14k
22
votes
Accepted
Are activities in which both people bleed on each other considered "No Risk" for the transmission of HIV?
Regarding the claim that scratching is a "No Risk" activity, here is a study showing no HIV transmission from scratches and bites from a person with contaminated fingers and mouth:
To examine the ...
tim♦
- 51.2k
18
votes
Accepted
Do desktop computers catch fire (often)?
Do desktop computers catch fire often?
http://www.nfpa.org/~/media/Files/Research/Fact%20sheets/office_fact_sheet.pdf
In 2007-2011, there were an estimated 730 reported U.S. home structure fires ...
- 2,020
18
votes
Accepted
Is the EPA's regulation of particulate matter justified with evidence?
It is justified with (recent) evidence.
Selectively quoting from WP:Pariculates#Health_problems, emphasis of publication dates mine:
Inhalation of PM2.5 – PM10 is associated with elevated risk of
...
- 18.9k
17
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to train dogs to detect hypoglycemia?
It is difficult to prove that it is impossible to train dogs to detect hypoglycemia. All that can be done to disprove this claim is to show systematic efforts to train dogs have failed, and that no-...
- 137k
16
votes
Accepted
Does drinking cattle urine have health benefits?
This is a religiously motivated idea. And it is very probably a quite terrible idea from a health perspective. It is definitively a terrible idea from a taste perspective. After reviewing the ...
- 43.7k
16
votes
Is food becoming less nutritious because of depletion of soil minerals and nutrients?
Avery gave you a list of "yeses" by moving the goal posts to an issue of organics vs non-organic modern agriculture. Here's a peer-review no to the actual question of historical decline: ...
- 55.1k
15
votes
Is the EPA's regulation of particulate matter justified with evidence?
I am submitting a new answer because I believe there is a gap in understanding in how these regulations work. I will try to be brief, yet thorough.
EPA regulates Particulate Matter, or PM, under the ...
- 511
14
votes
Accepted
Does breathing Beijing's air for one hour reduce life expectancy by 20 minutes?
This claim is difficult to evaluate in part because there are too many different variables at play. Fundamentally the reporter is quoting a statement by Richard Muller, Scientific Director of Berkeley ...
- 16.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Are organic vegetables higher in carcinogens?
Issue:
Whether organic vegetables are comparably more carcinogenic to vegetables treated with pesticides?
Evidence:
Research shows that numerous chemicals present in natural products tested ...
- 22.6k
14
votes
Does a dairy-free diet reduce autistic behaviour?
There is little evidence to support the effectiveness of nutritional supplements or the GFCF diet for improving ASD symptoms.
A dairy-free, gluten-free diet for autistic kids is called GFCF (Gluten-...
- 41.5k
14
votes
Is the European NO₂ limit of 40 µg/m³ for outside air backed by strong evidence?
Summary
The question as asked in the title depends on what you consider "strong evidence". I will therefore have a look at which side makes the better-sourced point. (Which is not just about "...
- 18.9k
13
votes
Do the plastic shade balls in Los Angeles leach chemicals into water?
The claim that plastic shade balls used in the LA reservoir leach chemicals into drinking water can be denied based on the following points.
The shade balls are coated in carbon black, a food-safe ...
- 22.6k
13
votes
Accepted
Do we unknowingly eat 5 grams of plastic per week?
I think this is rather disputed. The 5g figure appears to have originated with Reuters Singapore based on an Australian study, and it's even pegged as a "conservatives estimate" therein.
On ...
- 55.1k
12
votes
Is there plastic microfiber in 83% of tap water?
No.
Of course there exist locations in the world where microplastic will be found in the water -- given the standards in some parts of the world, this cannot be doubted -- but overall the claims are ...
- 432
11
votes
Accepted
Does the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) meaningfully increase the risk of water contamination?
Is the existing Northern Border Pipeline (which is natural gas as opposed to DAPL's crude oil) a comparable environmental hazard, or is DAPL provably more risky?
Natural gas and crude oil spills ...
- 1,074
10
votes
Accepted
Are people physically sensitive to light from LEDs over other sources?
Yes, it is recognised as a potential problem: LED lighting flicker and potential health concerns: IEEE standard PAR1789 update.
The IEEE Standards Working Group, IEEE PAR1789 “Recommending practices ...
- 1,315
10
votes
Does residential radon cause lung cancer?
Key assertions here are, at best, out of date. According to a 1997 study:
Until ongoing case-control studies of indoor radon are completed and
the data are pooled and analyzed, the studies of ...
- 7,164
10
votes
Is the illegal nuclear waste at the Coldwater Creek Nuclear Landfill a risk to public health?
The Claim I'm challenging:
this article claims that an "expert" says it's fine.
Sasa Mutic is a PhD in radiooncology and the chair of the radiation safety committee at Washington School of ...
- 302
10
votes
Does using BlueTooth devices cause leakage of the blood-brain barrier?
No, it seems that low power electromagnetic fields(such as from BlueTooth devices) do not cause any significant increase in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier.
Research regarding effects the ...
- 11.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Is wireless charging harmful?
TL;DR
Probably no.
Unless it was powerful enough to cause damage through heating or immediately shock you.
About wireless charging
For most cellphones, wireless charging is done according to Qi or ...
- 98
8
votes
Accepted
Does using a fluoride-based toothpaste or fluoride-supplemented tap water lead to higher fluoride concentration in the pineal gland?
There is significant discussion of this issue in Fluoride in Drinking Water: Scientific Review of EPA's Standards (2006), particularly in chapter 8, Effects on the Endocrine System. This book is a ...
- 102k
8
votes
Does grounding (earthing) reduce inflammation?
The article is published by Dove Medical Press, which offers open access journals on an "author pays" model. The NIH URL seems to be merely the National Library of Medicine medical article indexing ...
- 15.8k
7
votes
Does washing your hair with a coal-tar soap prevent hair loss and accommodate hair growth?
In its essence this is true.
Therapeutic doses of coal tar – or Liquor carbonis detergens – are used and effective against overproducing sebum, dandruff and a range of other problems with hair. Its ...
- 43.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible