Quote:
Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
That's just the thing: apparently some state OSHA offices prohibited PVC pipe outright (e.g. Arizona, from which the quotation at issue was sourced) without specifying whether they were only talking about the conventional PVC water pipe. Unless they are confident that no safer PVC pipe can be made, they should only restrict the specific products that pose the hazard.
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Indeed they should, but all too often people who don't understand the science behind a decision are the ones who make it, especially when the government is involved...
I'll never forget teaching in California when a law was passed (unanimously by both houses and signed into law by Governor Davis) that outlawed "chemicals made from dangerous elements" in science classrooms... Further investigation indicated that "dangerous" included anything "toxic" or "flammable".
Not withstanding the absurd misunderstanding that toxicology is a matter of dosage (and that even water ingested in sufficient amounts is toxic), the ignorance of even middle school level chemistry was quite astounding.
Among the things unintentionally outlawed in California science classrooms: matches, table salt, water, air, humans.