Slate reports that the numbers of people suffering from shellfish and other food allergies may be significantly overstated. The article traces the source of confusion to a 2004 paper in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that misrepresents the percentage of the population with seafood allergies. For one thing, the authors of the paper were non-statisticians trying to perform statistical work. For another, the survey questions were biased.
fear factor
Study: Candles May Contribute To Indoor Air Pollution
By 8.25.09
You may want to think twice about covering up that stench in the bathroom by lighting up 25 votives. A new study by researchers at South Carolina State University found that “paraffin-based candles — the most popular kind — emitted toxic chemicals like toluene and benzene.”
Wild Teenagers To Inherit America's SUVs
By 8.4.09
Move over soccer moms and drug runners. Now that SUVs are heading for junk piles, the latest face of the SUV driver is the American teenager. As Abram Sauer reports at TheAwl, this is not good:
