Consuming Interest
The Chemical Dragon
By LESLIE ADRIAN With much of what Mrs. Grant says 1 am in entire agreement. The trouble with our chemists today is that in their pursuit of cures for in- dividual evils, poisons and pests, they upset nature's balance; and the last state may be worse than the first. I am reminded of the man who bought an island infested by rabbits off the Irish coast. He put a few cats on it to kill them off, only to find when he next returned that it was infested by cats, who were much more of a nuisance than the rabbits.
There is a further danger which is only re- cently coming to be appreciated—mainly as a result of experience of radiation. There are cer- tain things which are harmless in small doses, but poisonous to the human body by accumulation. Sometimes the cumulative effect of the substance is not known till it strikes people down years afterwards—as was the case with X-rays. As there is reason to believe that some of the chemi- cals which have been used to preserve food, or as insecticides, may haVe this undesirable property, it is obvious that we should proceed very cautiously before allowing their use.
I cannot help feeling, though, that Mrs. Grant sometimes does her good cause a disservice by overstating it. This is particularly obvious in her chapter on 'water and the chemical dragon'—the chemical dragon- being fluoridation. Whether fluoridation has or has not dangerous toxic qualities, it certainly has the power to arouse in- tense feelings among its opponents and its sup- porters; the controversy on the subject is now getting too heated for comfort.
Mrs. Grant objects to sodium fluoride because it is a poison. So, of course, it is. But there are a great many things which are poisonous if given in sufficient concentration, but which are benefi- cial, and indeed essential to life, if taken diluted— such as iodine. And the evidence is overwhelm- ing that fluoridation of water does substantially reduce tooth decay in young children. Sodium fluoride, too, is not some chemical invented for commercial purposes; it already exists in 'most foodstuffs, and is present in normal water supplies. What the pro-fluoridation people are doing, at least in theory, is unexceptionable; they are trying to secure that a constant proportion of sodium fluoride is present in all drinking water, an amount sufficient to prevent tooth decay in children, but not sufficient to do any harm to anybody else.
The supporters of fluoridation, however, are themselves sometimes unscrupulous in presenting their case. They ignore the fact that it prevents tooth decay only in young children; according to Mrs. Grant, research in some places suggests that it merely postpones decay a few years; by adolescence, the incidence of dental caries has evened out, no matter what the proportion of sodium fluoride is in the water. Obviously this is something that will have .to be examined fur- ther; but I would urge that this, and other con- troversies of a similar nature, should be reasonably conducted, avoiding the falsifications which creep in when people's feelings get too strong for them.
But on many subjects I should endorse Mrs. Grant's conclusions without qualification. I like her point, 'We carefully keep our children away from all alcoholic drinks, yet we encourage them to drink "soft drinks" which are very nearly as harmful—perhaps more so.' I would like to see legislation . forbidding the use of the dyes she condemns, designed to deceiye customers into thinking that a fish, say, has been cured by smoking—though admittedly this can lead to complications about what constitutes 'deceit'; the colour of whisky, after all, is in a sense a decep- tion; yet few people would suggest that the distillers•should be stopped from maturing their spirit in sherry casks to colour it. And I should like to see much stricter regulations about the sale of substitutes for cream. Mrs. Grant tells the story of a friend who was deceived by some ersatz cream on his fruit salad, until the man opposite him claimed that he made the stuff. 'Whereupon my friend said, "What's your line?"
The reply Was : am a carpet manufacturer. We make the. cream from the residues from the The kitchen section-of Selfridges bargain base- ment is well worth a visil•This is largely because an enterprising buyer has looked far afield for his ideas.', I found gadgets from Germany, Sweden, Italy and France. From West Germany comes ,an excellent mixer which is more efficient than the ordinary hand mixer and yet not so elaborate as the costly electric type. The liquid goes into a glass container, and the twin whisks, operated by a handle, are suspended from the plastic lid. This is shaped like a juice squeezer and, when needed for this purpose, handle and whisks unscrew. It,costs 18s. 9d.
The prices of these continental goods are often highly competitive. I looked at a British stainless- steel box grater for 9s, 6d., and finally chose a Swedish one at 8s. 11d. which seemed to be much stronger. I did, however, find a cheap and good British wheel-type parsley chopper, guaranteed not to rust, for only 3s. 9d.
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