Today was a terrific example of how the popular news media get the meaning of scientific statistics wrong. There were reports all over the place that smoked and cured meats (like bacon) have been declared by the WHO to be "grade 1” carcinogens, along with things like cigarettes and plutonium. "Grade 1” sounds very scary and everyone immediately presumed that it means that these meats must be very risky. In fact, it means nothing of the kind. Smoked and cured meats pose a fairly modest cancer risk. What the "grade 1” means is simply that we now have very strong evidence (because of the WHO's meta-analysis of 800+ studies) that they increase your cancer risk somewhat. The actual risk they pose is still much lower than the risk posed by cigarettes or, for heaven's sake, plutonium. Indeed, we now have very strong evidence that the risk is much lower. Here's an article that clarifies things, from The Guardian (which, by the way, probably has the best science coverage of any English language newspaper in the world).
- Chris ....... Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 43.773759, -79.503722 [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=47171 or send a blank email to leave-47171-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
