Cancerous USB Cables

[SHAWN]

I think that their air quality is causing the cancer.

 

[smileygladhands]

So I should not be eating charred USB cables for lunch anymore???

Jees, you can't do anything anymore!

All matter is potentially harmful to you if you change it's state on a chemical or molecular level.
A hydrogen atom poses little threat to you unless you set many of them on fire or you bomard them with neutrons and cause them to split.

Your body is made up of 70%(?) water and it's quite healthy for you unless that water freezes or expands as a gas - both of which will destroy the cell walls they are contained in and kill you.

But, yes, I would agree with SHAWN that the air quality in California is probably much more unhealthy that the USB cables.

 

[Shibby]

Most anything can cause cancer if you ingest it in high enough quantities, even substances that are thought to be healthy. If you take a close look at a LOT of the cancer studies done on mice/rats, you will find that the animals are loaded up with ridiculous amounts of a given substance continually over a significantly large proportion of their lifespan. If you extrapolate these values to approximate what a person would have to ingest to replicate these conditions, it is practically impossible to do.

This is not to say that all studies are flawed like this, but many are, especially older ones (which are for some reason still held as the gospel truth in many circles). The point is that you shouldn't believe everything you hear. Not all studies are well-conducted and the results are certainly not always meaningful. Yeah, a given substance may cause cancer, but you may have to eat a purified form of it for breakfast every morning for 20 years for it to happen.

Geez, and I said I didn't want to get into this. K, I'm off my soapbox now.

 

[Him]

Geez, and I said I didn't want to get into this. K, I'm off my soapbox now.

You're not on a soapbox buddy, you are sharing your knowledge of the subject with people who need to be educated. Ignant people like myself.

 

[smileygladhands]

Most anything can cause cancer if you ingest it in high enough quantities, even substances that are thought to be healthy. If you take a close look at a LOT of the cancer studies done on mice/rats, you will find that the animals are loaded up with ridiculous amounts of a given substance continually over a significantly large proportion of their lifespan. If you extrapolate these values to approximate what a person would have to ingest to replicate these conditions, it is practically impossible to do.

This is not to say that all studies are flawed like this, but many are, especially older ones (which are for some reason still held as the gospel truth in many circles). The point is that you shouldn't believe everything you hear. Not all studies are well-conducted and the results are certainly not always meaningful. Yeah, a given substance may cause cancer, but you may have to eat a purified form of it for breakfast every morning for 20 years for it to happen.

Geez, and I said I didn't want to get into this. K, I'm off my soapbox now.

It should also be added that science really hasn't discovered exactly how or why we get cancer.. they've just learned that certain exposures can cause cancer cells to turn on and begin producing. Some people are more suceptible to it than others... a lot of what we understand about cancer is guesswork and theory to begin with.

 

[SHAWN]

Your cell phone can cause tumers or something like that. nothing we use is safe.

 

[Him]

Next thing you know, eating bread will give you aids...

 

[Shibby]

Smiley: We actually know a lot more about why SOME cancers are caused than you might think. The actual cause for many, like leukemias, is actually relatively simple. The trick is in preventions and cures. Susceptibility is more of a question in many of these cases.

 

[FadingTheory]

Indeed, some cancer are pretty well known, atleast the causes. UV rays break apart and damage DnA of all kinds: skin cancer can be caused by this UV break down. The DnA is damaged, and its only takes a few cells to take a certian kind of damage to become cancerous. This, of course, is true of any kind of radiation.

Though it is true that chemicals and substances are considerably harder to prove cause cancer.

 

[ShoobieRat]

I know they got led in them. I just have never seen a caution like that, and I thought it was ridiculous. I didnt think that it would be a hazard to simply handle them though, that IS ridiculous!

The insulation around the wires in the USB cable is permiated with lead particles to shield the cable form noise. Some of this lead can rub off during handling. Since lead is bad for you, that should be taken into account. CA just does a one-up on the problem by freaking out a little.

Of course, you have to consider the type of people running CA, and their supporters. Not a lot of level-minded, common-sense oriented, exemplorary citizens in CA. Not in the streams of power and influence at least.