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The CBC News Some 'scientific' statements not so true: scientists Last Updated Fri, 04 Oct 2002 12:01:53 MONTREAL - Experts say consumers should beware of urban myths spread by e-mail. A few misleading statements have been making the rounds lately. According to one story, plastic microwave containers leach dioxins into food. Dioxins are known to cause cancer. "They've taken smidgens of truth from the scientific literature," says Joe Schwartz, a chemistry professor at McGill University. "(They've used) fragments about plasticizers, fragments about dioxins and meshed it into a story that sounds very risky but is scientifically incorrect." Schwartz says there's no worry about any plastic containers that are used for the microwave because the temperatures aren't high enough to give rise to dioxins. Dioxins are created at incinerator temperatures. Containers used for take-out food is not a health hazard either, says Schwartz and neither are plastic wraps — except that they can melt. Another Internet scare concerns ovarian cancer. An e-mail making the rounds says the "CA 125" blood test can screen for ovarian cancer — one of the most difficult diagnoses to make. CA 125 is a type of protein. "For a woman who is low risk and who has no history, the CA 125 is probably not a useful screening test," says Dr. Gerald Stanimir, a gynecological oncologist at McGill University. Stanimir say when a blood test shows a high level of protein CA 125, it can mean a variety of things. "We have patients who have irritable bowel syndrome (and) ones who have psoriasis, which is a skin condition, where the CA 125 is elevated and doesn't mean they're at risk or will develop ovarian cancer." Stanimir and other doctors say Web users should not be passing around e-mails they're not sure of — ones with scientific claims. You may want to check Web sites that debunk myths such as the "inboxer rebellion" section of snopes.com or urbanlegends.com On the Net: Urban Legends Reference Pages http://www.snopes.com/ Looking for the Latest Urban Legends? http://www.urbanlegends.com/ SOURCE: The CBC News http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/10/03/Consumers/Webhoax_021003 * * * Murray Charters <[log in to unmask]> http://www.geocities.com/murraycharters/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn