Don’t take our word for it. Here’s every fact on this site, with its evidence grade, its caveats, and a link to the source, so you can check us.
We start you on the strong ones: findings that have been replicated or come from one large, well-controlled study. Moderate and weak facts are here too, labeled for what they are. Use “Link to this fact” to share a single card.
Health effects / Other evidence
People with migraine with aura had higher odor detection thresholds (worse sensitivity to a faint smell) than those without aura (Mann-Whitney U = 36.5, P = 0.005), although all 28 women had normal overall smell function and discrimination and identification did not differ.
Weak evidence: Single small sample (n = 28); threshold effect is the one psychophysical result and is in the opposite direction to the larger evoked responses.
Source: Mignot et al. 2023, J Headache Pain, The Journal of Headache and Pain Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Most everyday odorants, including those in perfumes, stimulate both the smell nerves and the trigeminal ('nasal pain') nerves, and the study's authors propose that in migraine with aura the smell component is poorly integrated while trigeminal processing is exaggerated.
Weak evidence: A hypothesis, not a tested result; no fragrance product or fragrance chemical was used and no odor-triggered attacks were recorded.
Source: Mignot et al. 2023, J Headache Pain, The Journal of Headache and Pain Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In the same EEG study, women with migraine with aura showed LOWER brain activity than those without aura to chocolate odor in the amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus, and other secondary smell-related regions, which the authors read as a deficit in engaging those structures.
Weak evidence: Source results were explicitly uncorrected for multiple comparisons; no control group; the sample is tiny.
Source: Mignot et al. 2023, J Headache Pain, The Journal of Headache and Pain Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Measured in people or real products
Of the 530 VOCs emitted, 193 appear on California DTSC's Candidate Chemicals List or the EU's ECHA hazard inventory (42 DTSC, 191 ECHA, 40 on both), including neurotoxicants, carcinogens, and reproductive toxicants.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
EWG-authored (advocacy nonprofit that ranks cleaners and licenses EWG VERIFIED to cleaner makers); Skyline Foundation grant; unblinded; List membership is hazard, not risk; ECHA entries include company self-classifications; no dose or health outcome measured.
Health effects / Other evidence
Women with migraine reported osmophobia more often than men (65.7% vs 48.1%) and odor triggers more often (51.3% vs 32.8%) in the 2025 meta-analysis.
Weak evidence: Sex subgroups use unreported subsets of studies with wide overlapping CIs; the test used is not described; Kelman 2007's own table shows no sex difference in odor triggers.
Source: Briggs et al. 2025, World J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg, World Journal of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Toluene-2,5-diamine sulfate is classed as a moderate-to-strong skin sensitizer, though the sulfate salt is more soluble and less irritating than the free base.
Weak evidence: One old secondary citation; sensitization potency is not quantified here.
Health effects / Other evidence
The committee warned that homeopathy can cause indirect harm when people delay diagnosis or reject conventional treatment, citing a UK doctor found guilty of misconduct and an Australian manslaughter case involving an infant with eczema.
Weak evidence: Case reports and a press-sourced case; no incidence data; the report deliberately did not examine product safety.
Source: UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy (HC 45), Feb 2010 Link to this fact
Health effects / Review of other studies
EWG said that about 53 percent of the cleaning products it assessed contain ingredients known to harm the lungs and about 22 percent contain chemicals reported to cause asthma to develop.
Weak evidence: Hazard flags from databases on an unspecified product set, not exposure or effect measures from product use; denominators and databases not named.
Source: EWG press release, Sept. 10, 2012, EWG press release (web page) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
EWG states that quaternary ammonium compounds in antibacterial sprays and fabric softeners can cause asthma.
Weak evidence: Occupational-asthma case series support quats as respiratory sensitizers, but an industry-funded review disputes the human evidence and no home-use dose is given.
Source: EWG press release, Sept. 10, 2012, EWG press release (web page) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
EWG said borax and boric acid used in cleaners can disrupt the hormone system.
Weak evidence: No dose, species, route or study; hazard labeling, not evidence of harm from cleaning use.
Source: EWG press release, Sept. 10, 2012, EWG press release (web page) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
EWG said 1,4-dioxane, a suspected human carcinogen, is a common contaminant of widely used detergent chemicals, and chloroform can escape in fumes from chlorine bleach products.
Weak evidence: Advocacy-group statements with no measurements on this page; 1,4-dioxane is a by-product that does not appear on labels.
Source: EWG press release, Sept. 10, 2012, EWG press release (web page) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (2010) and a Swiss government-program report both concluded homeopathy's effects are placebo effects, while a separate Swiss literature review favored it; NHMRC attributes the difference mainly to methods and notes critics on both sides.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
NHMRC's summary of other reports, not its own analysis; the favorable Swiss book was authored by homeopathy-sympathetic researchers and criticized as 'scientifically, logically and ethically flawed' in a review NHMRC cites.
Source: NHMRC 2015 Information Paper on the effectiveness of homeopathy (CAM02A) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
EWG's analysis of 560 hair-coloring products in Skin Deep found a median hazard score of 6, with only 4% scoring in the safest range (1 or 2), most of them temporary dyes.
Weak evidence: Advocacy-NGO analysis of its own scores; scores reflect disclosed ingredients, hazard data availability and use form, not measured exposure.
Source: EWG 2025 (Friedman & Huang), EWG news (web page) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
EWG states that cosmetics ingredients can have effects at low doses, that real-life cumulative exposure is not well understood, and that makers are not required to test ingredients for purity, but the page cites nothing for these points.
Weak evidence: Uncited advocacy statements on this page; do not use as evidence of harm.
Source: EWG, Skin Deep FAQ (web page, accessed 2026-10-16), EWG web page (Skin Deep FAQ) Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
EPA's 2006 ADBAC decision cited nearly 2,700 incident reports (1982-2004) for quat products, mostly skin, eye and respiratory irritation, with some allergic reactions.
Weak evidence: Incidents are pooled across all quats, voluntary, and have no denominator or causal confirmation; they are not an injury rate.
Source: EPA RED 2006 Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The 2006 EPA ADBAC decision names respiratory irritation symptoms in its incident table but makes no finding that ADBAC does or does not cause asthma.
Weak evidence: Absence of an asthma statement in a 2006 reregistration decision is not evidence either way; later EPA documents were not read.
Source: EPA RED 2006 Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In a polysorbate 20 cell study (human umbilical vein and lung cancer cells), five assays led the authors to conclude it can cause DNA fragmentation and apoptosis at about 2 microliters per milliliter, while standard bacterial and mammalian mutation tests of polysorbate 80 and ethoxylated sorbitan monolaurate were negative.
Weak evidence: One lab study of one polysorbate, in vitro at high concentration; polysorbate 60 was not tested.
Source: CIR 2015 draft Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Children living in New York homes with median perchloroethylene near 340 micrograms per cubic meter showed subtle vision effects in a 2010 state health department study, as relayed by the county.
Weak evidence: One relayed study; primary not read here; cross-sectional and for homes above dry cleaners, so other exposures cannot be excluded.
Source: SCDHS 2018 Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In rodent studies of a hydrocarbon dry-cleaning solvent (Stoddard Solvent IIC), adrenal tumors appeared in male rats, liver adenomas in female mice were equivocal, and sperm motility fell at 550 milligrams per cubic meter in rats and 2200 in mice.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Animal data for a related solvent with higher aromatic content (0.58-0.93%) than the 0.1% or less reported for the DC-142 product; the report uses it as a stand-in; current high-flash solvents are not directly tested.
Source: SCDHS 2018 Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
A Danish allergy research center (NARC) commissioned a model that puts the lifetime cost of one average fragrance allergy case at about 182,000 DKK (about 24,000 EUR).
Weak evidence.
Caveats
A cost model built on stated assumptions (expert case splits, 5.6 sick days, a willingness-to-pay of 9,700 DKK per year borrowed from atopic and contact dermatitis), not measured patient costs. The report is not peer reviewed. Discounted over a 50-year horizon.
Source: COWI 2019 Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
A Danish model estimates fragrance allergy costs about 1.5 billion DKK a year nationally, for roughly 150,000 adults with symptoms.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Modeled figure. The 150,000 is a steady-state output of the model's incidence and 4.4% annual decline assumptions, and is about 3.3% of Danish adults. The report's abstract calls it a 5% prevalence, which is the sensitized share, not the symptomatic one.
Source: COWI 2019 Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
A model extrapolated from Danish unit costs puts the annual EU28 cost of fragrance allergy at 11 to 16.4 billion EUR.
Weak evidence: Extrapolation, not an EU measurement. It assumes 4% to 6% of the EU population is sensitized, the Danish case mix everywhere, and a 30% price-level discount.
Source: COWI 2019 Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
In the model, about 43% of the lifetime cost of a fragrance allergy case is valued quality-of-life loss, while the public health system pays only about 3%.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
The 43% is a willingness-to-pay value (9,700 DKK per year after deducting private costs) borrowed from atopic and contact dermatitis studies; no fragrance-allergy willingness-to-pay study was found. The 3% is the public share of direct costs in the model.
Source: COWI 2019 Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
The model estimates about 8,500 new fragrance allergy cases a year in Denmark, of which about 3,750 are diagnosed by a dermatologist.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Derived, not counted. 3,750 = 25,000 patch-tested patients a year x 15% positive, with 10% of those referred to hospital. The 8,523 total is 3,750 divided by 0.44, a hand-eczema referral ratio from a different study. Only the dermatologist and hospital endpoints are actually diagnosed.
Source: COWI 2019 Link to this fact
Health effects / Measured in people or real products
Known respiratory sensitizers (hexamethylene diisocyanate, glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde) caused only about 6% of the 69 irritant-induced asthma cases in a Finnish clinic series, with allergic asthma judged unlikely in those cases.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Single-center retrospective case series; industrial workplaces, not households; no control group. The series was selected for irritant-induced asthma, so this is a share within irritant cases and not a share of airway reactions that are allergic versus irritant.
Source: Lindström 2021, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Link to this fact
Health effects / Measured in people or real products
Only 2 of 69 irritant-induced asthma cases in a Finnish clinic series were cleaners; the authors suggest cleaning work involves long-term low-level irritant exposure that does not meet the criteria for irritant-induced asthma.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Single-center retrospective case series; industrial workplaces, not households; no control group. The authors' interpretation, not tested; a clinic series cannot show how often cleaning products cause irritant asthma.
Source: Lindström 2021, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Rubber gloves can contain sulfites: a pilot study found them in 5 of 6 natural latex gloves and 23 of 24 nitrile gloves but none of 5 PVC gloves.
Weak evidence: Very small samples with no threshold for eliciting allergy; the authors call it a pilot.
Source: Choi 2024, Cutis Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Atopic dermatitis was less common than expected among Danish occupational hand eczema patients (16.4%, or 11.3% by UK Working Party criteria, versus 22-37% in earlier series), which the authors attribute to people with atopic dermatitis avoiding or being counseled away from wet work.
Weak evidence: The selection explanation is the authors' interpretation, untested here; compensation rules could bias reporting.
Source: Skoet 2004, Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In rosacea patients, allergy to the antibiotics gentamicin (8%, 6/75) and framycetin (5.3%, 4/76) was far above the under-0.5% estimated for the general population, possibly from eye treatment of rosacea symptoms.
Weak evidence: Small sample, wide CIs (gentamicin 3.0-16.6%); the eye-drop source is the authors' hypothesis, untested; population figure is an indirect estimate.
Health effects / Other evidence
The EU cost analysis rated the evidence that phthalates cause adult obesity, diabetes, male infertility and testosterone-linked early death as only 'low' in humans (with 'strong' animal evidence) and put the chance of causation at 40-69%.
Weak evidence: Expert-panel ratings, not new data; these phthalate lines sum to roughly EUR 29 billion a year before weighting, and the 2022 NHANES cohort tests only the mortality pathway.
Health effects / Other evidence
The authors say their EUR 163 billion figure is a conservative underestimate: it covers under 5% of known endocrine disruptors, only some diseases, direct costs only, and biomarker studies that likely understate exposure.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
This is the authors' own characterization; a value-of-statistical-life revision they discuss (USD 99-223 billion vs 7.96 billion for phthalate early death) is not adopted, and the infertility cost is about 18 times the Nordic Council's figure for similar cases.
Health effects / Other evidence
Studies in the panel's tables link accidental mixing of bleach with other cleaning products to higher asthma odds in cleaners: about 3.8 times in domestic cleaning women (95% CI 1.0-14) and 2.3 times in cleaning workers (95% CI 1.0-5.5).
Weak evidence: Small studies with very wide confidence intervals, self-reported incidents and recall bias; the paper notes reporting bias could not be excluded in the larger European cohort.
Health effects / Other evidence
The panel says the ultimate mechanisms of irritant-induced asthma remain largely speculative; proposed routes include airway epithelial damage, alarmin release and sensory-nerve activation through TRPV1 and TRPA1 with neurogenic inflammation.
Weak evidence: Narrative mechanism review with no new data; TRPA1 involvement is inferred from other studies.
Health effects / Other evidence
The authors report the patient was treated in the emergency room with an antihistamine and glucocorticoid but no epinephrine, although guidelines say epinephrine should be given early in anaphylaxis, and they call epinephrine under-use common even in emergency departments.
Weak evidence: One patient; the general under-use statement is the authors' assertion without data in this paper.
Health effects / Other evidence
After adjusting for age, sex and self-rated severity, fragrance-allergic patients scored about 3.6 points worse (out of 130) on a fragrance-specific quality-of-life questionnaire, a small effect whose confidence interval barely excludes zero.
Weak evidence: Small, borderline-significant adjusted difference in one cross-sectional study; unadjusted scores were identical.
Source: Bennike et al. 2019, Contact Dermatitis Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
US contact-dermatitis experts estimate 3.5-4.5% of adults and 20% of patch-tested patients may be allergic to one or more fragrances.
Weak evidence: Quoted without population, marker set or year; second-hand from a review; not comparable to the EDEN individual-marker rates.
Health effects / Other evidence
In pulp mill workers gassed with chlorine, about 57% (29 of 51) still had airway hyperresponsiveness 1.5 to 2 years later, though about a third of those re-tested a year later had improved.
Weak evidence: One workforce, relayed secondhand; small re-test group (18 of 29).
Source: Lemiere 2022, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Population studies point to excess asthma from chronic low-to-moderate irritant exposure at work (for example, Estonian adults OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.48-2.37, by job exposure matrix), but the review says attributing an individual case to work is almost impossible in practice.
Weak evidence: Job exposure matrices are crude, the review does not appraise the studies, and 'possible IIA' cannot be diagnosed per patient.
Source: Lemiere 2022, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In the same study, men in the top third of urinary MBzP (butyl benzyl phthalate metabolite) had about 5.5 times the odds of low sperm concentration versus the bottom third, but the simpler above/below-median comparison was not statistically significant.
Weak evidence: Wide intervals and small cells; one clinic, one urine sample; later same-clinic data weakened the MBzP signal in newly recruited men.
Health effects / Other evidence
Urinary MEP, the breakdown product of diethyl phthalate (DEP, the fragrance phthalate), showed no relation to sperm concentration, motility or shape in 143 clinic men, even though it was the most abundant phthalate metabolite measured (median 153 ng/mL).
Weak evidence: A small single-clinic null with one spot urine; low power to rule out modest effects, and MEP also reflects non-fragrance sources.
Health effects / Other evidence
In the same workers, odds of reduced sexual function generally rose across tertiles of cumulative BPA exposure (for example, erection not usually possible 2.3, 3.5 then 5.7), though sex drive did not follow the gradient.
Weak evidence: Tertile cut-points not printed; several outcomes dip at the middle tertile; trend test on prevalence; abstract states the dose-response without the sex-drive exception.
Health effects / Other evidence
Men starting work in BPA factories reported more declines in sexual function within their first year, for example reduced sex drive (adjusted OR 17.7, 4.2-74.3) and reduced erection ability (15.0, 2.7-83.6).
Weak evidence: Only 2-6 events among unexposed men, so the intervals are very wide; self-reported recall of change; some new workers were measured cross-sectionally.
Health effects / Other evidence
After excluding men with any other chemical or heavy-metal exposure, the BPA associations stayed and grew in Li 2010 (erection not usually possible aOR 10.6, 4.0-28.0).
Weak evidence: Smaller groups (67 exposed); the rise is unexplained and not discussed; one cohort.
Health effects / Other evidence
A letter in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2006 argued that the one human study cited in a major 2005 bisphenol A review was a small cross-sectional study of 73 women, not a case-control study, and so cannot show that BPA causes disease; the review's authors replied without disputing the design.
Weak evidence: Opinion in correspondence, not data; the letter writer states he is a consultant for the Weinberg Group (clients not named); Takeuchi 2004 itself was not checked.
Source: EHP letters 2006, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The author of the 2006 letter argued that BPA may be higher in women with polycystic ovary syndrome because high androgen could slow BPA clearance, rather than BPA causing the syndrome; this reading was suggested as 'more likely' by the original Japanese study's own authors, per the letter.
Weak evidence: Speculation relayed by a letter writer; a single snapshot study cannot decide direction.
Source: EHP letters 2006, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The authors of the 2005 anogenital-distance study replied in 2006 that their finding is from a relatively small study that 'must be replicated,' that misclassification they acknowledged would bias toward the null, and that no toxicology study has tested phthalates at environmental levels.
Weak evidence: Authors' own response to criticism, not new data; later cohorts replicated for DEHP-family metabolites, less clearly for the fragrance phthalate DEP.
Source: EHP letters 2006, Environmental Health Perspectives Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
BPA binds the orphan receptor ERRγ with high affinity and acts as an agonist in cell assays, but the crystal structure shows it leaves the receptor's shape almost unchanged, so how binding translates into activity is unresolved.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
In vitro reporter and structural data, mostly from the authors' own lab, in a review with no systematic search; no exposure levels and no human or animal outcomes. The chapter itself calls BPA a functionally silent ligand for coactivator binding.
Source: Delfosse et al. 2014, Vitamins and Hormones 94:229-251, Vitamins and Hormones Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Reporter-assay studies report that BPA activates human, but not mouse, PXR (a detoxification-gene regulator) at 1-10 µM, and inhibits thyroid hormone receptor activity in the same micromolar range.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
In vitro reporter and structural data, mostly from the authors' own lab, in a review with no systematic search; no exposure levels and no human or animal outcomes. Concentrations are far above typical human blood levels, which the chapter does not report. The species difference means mouse results may not transfer.
Source: Delfosse et al. 2014, Vitamins and Hormones 94:229-251, Vitamins and Hormones Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The sulfate conjugate of TBBPA, normally seen as a detoxification product, still binds PPARγ and keeps a partial agonist profile in a crystal structure.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
In vitro reporter and structural data, mostly from the authors' own lab, in a review with no systematic search; no exposure levels and no human or animal outcomes. Residual binding does not show biological activity in a living body.
Source: Delfosse et al. 2014, Vitamins and Hormones 94:229-251, Vitamins and Hormones Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The authors say BPA may also act through membrane estrogen receptors and GPR30 at very low concentrations with estradiol-like potency, but this chapter shows no data for that and cites reviews.
Weak evidence: Assertion by citation only; the same chapter reports BPA as a weak estrogen at nuclear ERs.
Source: Delfosse et al. 2014, Vitamins and Hormones 94:229-251, Vitamins and Hormones Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
EPA's incident system recorded 2,237 individual human health incidents for ADBAC products from September 2006 to March 2017 (of 2,176 summarized, 2,043 moderate, 85 major, 7 fatalities), mostly from handling liquid concentrates and ready-to-use sprays and wipes.
Weak evidence.
Caveats
Spontaneous reports with no verification, no denominators and no causal assessment; the seven fatality descriptions mix ADBAC/DDAC products with other cleaners, pre-existing disease, ingestion or deliberate inhalation.
Source: US EPA 2017 Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
The CIR panel dismissed hydrogen peroxide's many positive in vitro genotoxicity results as 'not relevant to cosmetic use' because peroxide is consumed on the skin surface, while its own Summary says damaged skin or excessive amounts 'may result in some systemic exposure'.
Weak evidence: Industry-funded panel's reasoning from kinetics; no measured dermal, mucosal or oral-cavity dose is presented, and in vivo genotoxicity tests listed were negative.
Source: Becker et al. 2024, International Journal of Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In hamster cheek-pouch studies cited in the CIR hydrogen peroxide report, 30% peroxide given with the carcinogen NNK produced tumors in 23 of 32 animals, with none in controls given either alone; the report's Discussion does not mention this.
Weak evidence: Animal study at 30% peroxide (far above cosmetic use) with a co-administered carcinogen; not evidence of harm at present use levels.
Source: Becker et al. 2024, International Journal of Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In a 1-year trial of 6% hydrogen peroxide whitening strips, dental examination found oral irritation in 25.0% of the peroxide group and 22.5% of the placebo group, and tooth sensitivity in 10% versus 5%.
Weak evidence: Small trial (n=40; percentages imply 40 per group); irritation rates were similar between arms; industry-funded review summarizing it.
Source: Becker et al. 2024, International Journal of Toxicology Industry-funded Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
Besides chlorine, reported RADS cases have followed exposure to acids (hydrochloric, sulfuric, acetic), an indoor aerosol grout sealer, spilled dishwasher detergent powder, ozone from UV systems, refrigerant, fumigants and disinfectant mixtures, mostly workplace accidents.
Weak evidence: Single case reports and conference abstracts; domestic cases are a minority (the grout sealer and 2 of 19 in one series).
Source: Walters 2020, Occupational Medicine Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
In people reported with RADS, many still had airflow obstruction and needed inhaled treatment when reported; one long-term series (Malo 2009) gave a mean symptom duration of about 13.6 years.
Weak evidence: Duration depends on delay to reporting; no standard outcome reporting; selected, compensation-claimant cases; cannot estimate recovery rates.
Source: Walters 2020, Occupational Medicine Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
EFSA reviewed the mouse study in which 1% polysorbate 80 in drinking water (about 1,500 mg per kg a day) for three months altered gut bacteria, thinned gut mucus and caused weight gain and impaired glucose control (Chassaing 2015), and concluded that its relevance to humans remains unclear because such weight and glucose effects were not seen in the rodent toxicity and cancer studies.
Weak evidence: Panel reasoning from older studies not designed for those endpoints; EFSA agreed with the authors that more work is needed. Not a finding of harm or of safety for the gut.
Source: EFSA ANS Panel (2015), full opinion, EFSA Journal Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
EFSA said it could not use the in vitro work proposing that polysorbate 80 promotes Crohn's disease bacterial translocation for risk assessment, because it was cell-culture only with no clinical studies.
Weak evidence: Panel position, not a test of the hypothesis; no human data either way in the opinion.
Source: EFSA ANS Panel (2015), full opinion, EFSA Journal Link to this fact
Health effects / Government agency
The human data behind EFSA's polysorbate opinion are 1950s studies, led by a placebo-controlled trial in which 6 g a day of polysorbate 60 for 28 days (about 100 mg per kg a day) caused no adverse effects in 19 infirmary patients and 10 healthy staff, with 4 and 9 infants in small uncontrolled feeding reports.
Weak evidence: Small, short, decades old and not to current standards; the panel says no current-standard human study exists.
Source: EFSA ANS Panel (2015), full opinion, EFSA Journal Link to this fact
Health effects / Other evidence
CTV quoted a Toronto physician who treats people with environmental sensitivities (Dr. Riina Bray) saying "She just needed to be helped to find a suitable place to live, where there wasn't smoke wafting and through the vents."
Weak evidence: One clinician's opinion about one person, quoted by a news outlet; not evidence of what would have changed any outcome. Death by MAiD is the subject; add 988 line in published use.
Source: CTV News, April 2022 (via Smoke-Free Housing BC; redacted copy), CTV News (news article) Link to this fact
Information, not medical advice. See also: myths we won’t tell you.