Heavy on scare

The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine hasn’t proved anything with its “Burden of Evidence” report – except maybe why it’s a bad idea to trust activists with serious science, “Tests on 12 Mainers find industrial chemicals” (BDN, June 12).

Setting aside the pointlessness of testing just 13 people (out of Maine’s 1.27 million), the alliance’s conclusions about mercury – just for one example – stretch the bounds of truthfulness.

The group claims mercury levels of two of its tested subjects (including Eric Stirling) were unsafe, but that’s not true. Stirling’s mercury measurement, the highest they found, was less than 12 percent of the level that might be harmful.

Government scientists frequently build generous safety cushions into advice about naturally occurring toxins, but the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine failed to acknowledge this – resulting in a story that’s heavy on scare but light on reality.

David Martosko,

director of research, Center for Consumer Freedom

Washington, D.C.