Remember that claim about black plastic kitchen utensils? What even is the purpose of a quantitative analysis if being off by a factor of 10 doesn't impact results 😭? nationalpost.com/news/canada/... - ThreadSky

dingdingpeng.the100.ci • 80 days ago

Remember that claim about black plastic kitchen utensils?

What even is the purpose of a quantitative analysis if being off by a factor of 10 doesn't impact results 😭?

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/black-plastic

Comments

surlygabe.bsky.social•80 days ago

hmmm

solomonkurz.bsky.social•80 days ago

🤡

datingdecisions.bsky.social•80 days ago

It's still significant! The results are the same!!

What's an effect size?

heyjohnryan.bsky.social•80 days ago

Hoo boy

lukasneville.com•80 days ago

from the department of Good Decisions From Bad Data:

i threw out a scratched-up black plastic ladle after reading this study

but the replacement -- with measurements printed on the scoop and a squishy silicone edge for scooping the last bit of soup -- is the best thing i bought this year

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

Maybe the study was a net good if it made people more open to new cooking experiences 😂

charlesdriver.bsky.social•80 days ago

Sympathetic to your position, definitely. Also wonder how the peer review, social / media coverage looks in the counterfactual universe where they were accurate with the numbers first time round. Does it look much different do you think?

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

I’m not sure how peer review works in that field; but I think media coverage for 80% vs <10% of reference dose would have definitely looked different…

rogerthegs.bsky.social•80 days ago

Maybe just a confession that nobody has anything close to an anchored effect size and dose insensitivity is particularly strong for food topics.

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

I guess the reference dose would provide a handy anchor, if only it wasn't only invoked when exceeded 😅 But yes, the dose insensitivity thing is strong.>

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

I do remember a story about somebody who tried to mix his own soylent version and suffered deficiencies because he forgot to add arsenic. Now I don't think that BDE-209 will turn out essential, but...still.

sungkim.bsky.social•80 days ago

What! I recycled all my black utensils.

maaikeverbruggen.bsky.social•80 days ago

hahaha wow

timpmorris.bsky.social•80 days ago

‘An independent researcher says the error does not materially affect the conclusion that plastic utensils are definitely, definitely bad.’

The researcher:

sim0ngates.bsky.social•80 days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0_zzCLLRvE

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

Tim what are you doing with all these wooden spoons

solomonkurz.bsky.social•80 days ago

He works for Big Wood

natehaines.bsky.social•80 days ago

😏

maciekszul.bsky.social•80 days ago

He makes them. Clear conflict of error. Deeply in the pocket of the Big Wooden Spoon Industry.

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

BIG SPOON IS OUT TO GET YOU

maciekszul.bsky.social•80 days ago

That's even more threatening than Big Pharma.

shadowvasterra.bsky.social•80 days ago

No that’s Little Spoon. Those guys are terrifying

timpmorris.bsky.social•80 days ago

I make them and sell them or give them as gifts. I bet Liu does too.

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

That's a really cool hobby! I thought you were exceptionally crunchy. I used to have a favorite wooden spatula with a face with a mustache & when it broke my husband reproduced it by drilling the same face into a new spatula. I think that's the closest we ever got to handmade spoons.

timpmorris.bsky.social•80 days ago

😆 where’s the pic of the new one?!
I heartily recommend whittling/carving as a satisfying contrast to the sort of work we do. Quick, tangible result. No big picture beyond that.

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•80 days ago

…I just learned that he actually made it from scratch from a piece of mahogany (is that really the English word??? In german the vowels are swapped, Mahagoni)

maaikeverbruggen.bsky.social•80 days ago

sounds like fair and honest independent research!

cyan220.bsky.social•80 days ago

It doesn’t impact THEIR analytical results (the amount of material they measured to come out). It did impact the ANALYSIS of their results.

In the end, they showed exposure through this mode of transfer was higher than the other mode (black dust).

cyan220.bsky.social•80 days ago

Just weighing in as an analytical chemist

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•79 days ago

Ah, thanks! That’s an interesting distinction to make here, but I see how that checks out. I’m coming from a different background, so I guess for me the part where you compare against the reference (which they botcher) would be part of the analysis (as in statistical analysis).>

dingdingpeng.the100.ci•79 days ago

But in any case I think it’s fair that from the perspective of the public, the result is the recommendation coming out of it, which does not appear entirely unchanged 🥲

cyan220.bsky.social•79 days ago

Right. I’m not a toxicologist (just work with them), so it is very possible that there could be more nuance to support on that side as well. But probably a better spin would have been “these results suggest that if you have a choice, avoid purchasing black cookware”

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