Get off the scare-story bandwagon

Last week David Workman, director general of the British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation, seemed to have jumped on the media bandwagon created by some questionable research claiming that phthalates - plasticisers widely used in plastics packaging products - affect the sexual development of children.

The study at the University of Rochester in New York used a small sample size to come up to conclusions that fly in the face of existing scientific evidence, according to Peter Davis, DG of the British Plastics Federation, writing in a  Daily Mail debate item. He also cited an American Chemistry Council statement that the researchers had “selectively excluded data, eliminating certain subjects from the analysis to strengthen their conclusion.”

Workman put the other side of the argument, noting that the report was not the first to highlight potential issues concerning [plastics] ever increasing use; even in cans and cartons are often lined with plastics. He went on to highlight how glass was the only packaging material to gain Generally Recognised As Safe status from the US Food and Drug Administration.

As a glass industry representative, Workman’s position seems fair enough, except for its implied support for the mud-slinging and industry-bashing that the US research has inspired. All industries - glass manufacturers included - must unite behind soundly-based scientific argument, or face further to attacks by the powerful green lobby and put off even more young people from considering careers in science and engineering. 

Please email your views to the editor: patrick.raleigh@centaur.co.uk