Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [environmental-health]

Use this tag for questions regarding physical, chemical and biological factors that may affect human health.

225 questions
21
votes
3 answers

Did wheat nutrition change in the 1960s, causing health problems?

Mark's Daily Apple gives an example of a claim that I have encountered: that modern wheat bears little resemblance to wheat prior to the 1960s, and that this new wheat is the cause for the rise in wheat-related digestive and health issues in the…
Vidro3
  • 311
  • 1
  • 6
21
votes
3 answers

Does Roundup harm mammals?

In the anti-GMO debate, it is frequently suggested that the use of Glyphosate (trade name: Roundup) on Roundup-ready GMO crops causes environmental harm. Example claim: Natural News Monsanto's infamous Roundup contains the hotly debated compound…
DrinkJavaCodeJava
  • 331
  • 1
  • 3
21
votes
2 answers

Is it unhealthy to live with cockroaches?

There are a number of cockroaches in my wardrobe where I keep my clothes. I have noticed that the cockroaches haven't done any damage to my clothes. I haven't seen the need to get rid of the cockroaches. There is a common perception that living with…
gnerkus
  • 313
  • 1
  • 2
  • 6
21
votes
2 answers

Do memory foam mattresses help reduce back pain?

Memory foam and related products have claims like TEMPUR Mattresses create a custom fit for your body, virtually eliminating painful pressure points and reducing your body’s need to toss and turn in search of a comfortable, pain-free sleeping…
YXD
  • 261
  • 1
  • 8
20
votes
1 answer

Is this new study on cell phone / cancer connection legitimate?

Insanely related: Do mobile phones have anything to do with cancer? I was just sent THIS article, which claims that a new study does show a link between brain cancer and cell phones: This new study has been published in the International Journal…
Hendy
  • 21,665
  • 17
  • 116
  • 179
20
votes
5 answers

Is food becoming less nutritious because of depletion of soil minerals and nutrients?

Over and over, I have heard and read claims that the soil growing much of the planet's crops is "depleted" and thus our foods do not have sufficient minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients. Five examples of such…
RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
  • 561
  • 5
  • 18
20
votes
2 answers

Is standing near Lake Karachay for an hour fatal?

I read this 9gag post (Okay, 9gag isn't really reliable for facts), where it says : I then checked it at Wikipedia (Again, not the most reliable, really, but it does the job when necessary), and found out that it became a "dump site" for…
Zaenille
  • 693
  • 6
  • 9
20
votes
1 answer

Is sun protection clothing a real alternative to sunscreen?

I was reluctantly dragged along to do clothes shopping in Singapore today and all over the place they advertised clothing that has supposedly been coated with some form of UV protection. As far as I'm aware Singapore doesn't have the European-style…
Kit Sunde
  • 18,636
  • 12
  • 93
  • 127
20
votes
3 answers

Does one drop of nicotine kill a horse?

There is a popular aphorism in Russia, translated as "one drop of nicotine kills a horse": , which is widely used on the anti-tobacco posters etc. Can 0.05 ml of nicotine really kill a healthy 400-kg horse? What could be the origin of this phrase?
Quassnoi
  • 4,315
  • 5
  • 30
  • 49
19
votes
1 answer

Does washing your hair with a coal-tar soap prevent hair loss and accommodate hair growth?

I have heard several people, including both a former dermatologist and a hair-dresser claim that coal-tar soap can help prevent hair-loss. The Herbs and Home Remedies site recommends it (combined with an egg yolk treatment). The commenter on a forum…
Vahan Lcf Harutyunyan
  • 423
  • 1
  • 3
  • 8
19
votes
1 answer

Do more people drown in deserts than die of thirst?

I had first heard about the claim that more people drown in deserts than die of thirst in school maybe 30 years ago. The explanation is that sudden rains can create dangerous flooding in normally dry valleys (e.g. wadis). In the Internet, the claim…
user22213
19
votes
1 answer

Are activities in which both people bleed on each other considered "No Risk" for the transmission of HIV?

My friend, who was a HIV care provider, claims explicitly that "no one has ever transmitted HIV through wound to wound contact" and that therefore there is no significant risk to hockey players transmitting HIV in a fight like this, presuming one of…
Anon
  • 1,063
  • 1
  • 8
  • 16
19
votes
3 answers

Are organic vegetables higher in carcinogens?

My common senses would have told me that organic vegetables are healthier and less harmful compared to vegetables treated with pesticides. A recent post on Quora made me think otherwise. Organic vegetables are much higher in carcinogens than are…
Abhijit
  • 485
  • 1
  • 4
  • 10
19
votes
3 answers

Do electric cars create more fine dust pollution than comparable petrol cars?

According to this Flanders Today (a local Belgian newspaper) article (dead link, archive on archive.org). a new small car on petrol in the city creates less fine dust than an electric car of average size. The researcher, Bruno Van Zeebroeck,…
THelper
  • 317
  • 2
  • 9
19
votes
2 answers

Do some ingredients in lip balm cause dry lips?

According to this LifeHacker article, some brands of lip balms actually cause the problem of dry lips rather than solve it. America News Now spoke to dermatologist Gary Slaughter, who found camphor, phenol and menthol were the ingredients in bad…
Green Noob
  • 2,489
  • 1
  • 21
  • 29
1 2
3
…
14 15