Tuesday, February 24, 2009

YouTube-sday™: Ahhhh, rats!

Here's a little bit of info you may have missed from that "liberal" media: The EPA just finished (finally) the setup of a huge test project to determine if products that release endocrine disrupting chemicals are harmful to humans. Almost 12 years in the creation, but testing is finally about to start. Endocrine disruptors are nasty little dudes, really messing with the human body. And they exist in some pretty common places. DDT was one, until they stopped using it. Other disruptors show up in antifreeze, plastic bottles, fire retardant clothing, vinyl flooring....the list goes one. But finally, 12 years after coming up with the idea to do a long term study on the effects of these chemicals, the EPA has released their plans. And the lucky test subject is this little guy:
He (or she) is a Sprague-Dawley rat, a pretty popular lab rat for the medical industry. Bred for their calm temperament and other advantages in handling. There is just one problem - one the the attributes of the SD rat is that is tends to be endocrine resistant. In fact, it was actually bred BECAUSE it has a higher tolerance for arsenic trioxide, a chemical in fertilizer. Many professionals have brought this concern to the EPA, only to be written off and ignored.

Just how dang stupid are the people in charge?!?! Let's test the effects of chemicals on an animal that happens to have an immunity to said chemical! What's next - testing the effects of drowning on a fish (or do you call them "sea kittens")??? Amazing, just amazing.

So in "celebration" of this fine bit of government action, as well as the seemingly unlimited phone calls into work the past 8 weeks, I give you The Primitives: