radellaf Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 ACS Press Releasehttp://portal.acs.org:80/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_022771&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=4135bbe8-450c-4cdf-aa53-5ef8f07381e3Anyone seen this bit about Soy (&bee) wax vs paraffin that recently came out?I'm trying to get a copy of the paper since, while it is no secret that there are unburned hydrocarbons such as benzene and toluene in paraffin candle emissions, none of the news articles report the amounts detected, yet the author is quoted making medical recommendations on the safety of breathing the air in a room with candles.A GC/MS is capable of detecting minute, medically harmless, amounts of chemicals.Plus, I think the study may have been funded by the USDA, who would have an interest in promoting soy wax.Bugs me that none of the tens of press articles did anything but quote this. No real investigative journalism involving comments by any scientists or doctors but the authors of the paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) You have to watch out for "research studies" that are performed for a specific client. Some of them are just marketing and public relations operations executed by university staff.A real classic is the transparently fraudulent study led by Tong Wang at Iowa State some years back, leading to a paper entitled Combustion Characteristics of Candles Made from Hydrogenated Soybean Oil. In a local newpaper, Prof. Wang explained that they intended to come up with some material that would be useful in helping a particular soy candle company market their products. And of course their college was heavily funded by Cargill.Strange how agricultural scientists so often seem to how what their results are going to be in advance. But it's not like whoring for the soybean industry is going to stir up scientific controversy or criticism. Real scientists don't give a crap about this stuff.This one looks hauntingly similar--it's totally from the same play book. Massoudi in this case is whoring for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Or at least he got his grant by kissing up to them. And he too, strangely, seemed to know what his results would be. He even refers to apparently fictitious results of previous studies.SOYBEAN CANDLES FOR HEALTHY LIFE AND WELL BEING PROJECT DIRECTOR: Massoudi, R. PERFORMING ORGANIZATIONENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIESSOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITYORANGEBURG,SC 29117 NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Several studies of candles indicated that paraffin wax candle burning could cause serve health problems from the harmful burning emissions. This project is going to study and address the health problems associated with the use of petroleum based candles and the possible use of its replacement by soybean candles that is claimed to have no harmful emissions. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this proposal is to address the realization of health and well being of our citizens by considerably reducing the possible environmental pollutants caused by candles made from petroleum-base. Studies related to the harmful chemicals of paraffin candles and the lack of comparable pollutants in soybean candles are of utmost interest. The second objective is to address the economical feasibility of replacing a renewable source like soybean for petroleum source, which is not renewable and depletes and depends on foreign import. Beyond that, using soybean would bring a healthy economy to our farmers by producing more and better products. Certainly this study would provide great deal of information concerning health issues relating to inhaling emissions from candles. APPROACH: Whereas soybeans are mass produced in the world and many consumer items such as printing ink, body and skin care products, hair care products, cleaning products, candles, etc., has resulted because of soybeans research. One of the primary advantages of candles made from soy wax is that the soot emitted is considerably less compared to those made from paraffin wax. The soot from paraffin candles may cause damage to your walls, ceilings, vents, curtains or blinds, and even carpets and other areas of your home. Since soybeans are a renewable and biodegradable resource, it is a prime source for candle wax. Because of the abundance of this agricultural product, new uses of it are being researched. Careful studies indicate that candle burning could cause severe health problems under the normal burning conditions just because of harmful emissions. This project is going to study and address the health problems associated with the use of petroleum based candles and study the possible use and replacement of soybean candles that is claimed to have no harmful emissions. Apparently, this research is necessitated because of the health problems related to the use of petroleum based products. By replacing paraffin wax with soy wax in candles, an estimated 60 million pounds of soybeans would be required for annual candle production. This requirement will have a direct economic impact on soybean farmers as well as a health and environmental impact in this country. The burning of soy candles in homes and cars address the real issue at hand, which is the health of American and global consumers. The burning of paraffin candle gives off more toxic fumes than soy candles which may be harmful to individuals. CRIS NUMBER: 0206030 SUBFILE: CRISPROJECT NUMBER: SCX-420-25-05 SPONSOR AGENCY: NIFA PROJECT TYPE: EVANS-ALLEN PROJECT STATUS: EXTENDED MULTI-STATE PROJECT NUMBER: (N/A) START DATE: Jan 2, 2006 TERMINATION DATE: Jul 31, 2010 GRANT PROGRAM: (N/A) GRANT PROGRAM AREA: (N/A) CLASSIFICATION HEADINGSKA511 - New and Improved Non-Food Products and ProcessesS1820 - SoybeanF2000 - ChemistryG2.1 - Expand Domestic Market OpportunitiesIMPACT: 2009-01-01 TO 2009-12-31 The direct impact of the project is to eliminate any health hazard substances that might affect human health causing ill health or possibly sometimes death due to complications that would result from inhalation of hazardous materials. A presentation of the results during the National Meeting of American Chemical Society, ACS, was enormous and was reported all over the world by more than 500 news media. Knowledge of the possible vaporized substance from specified candles would allow us to choose the candles that would not produce unwanted materials that can cause either material or health hazard to human beings. Economically, regular candles produce carbon which is ruining the furniture, walls, clothes, which is expensive to clean and remove. Also the healthy individuals in our society would be more productive with the least expenditures for medical purposes which are very important economically.PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 2009-01-01 TO 2009-12-31Massoudi, R. and Hamidi, A.(2009). Emission products of petroleum based candles, Emerging Environmental Technologies towards a Cleaner and Sustainable Society, ACS Washington, DC.PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION NAME: McIntyre, L. A.PHONE: 803-533-3619FAX: 803-536-7102 Edited May 25, 2010 by topofmurrayhill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radellaf Posted May 25, 2010 Author Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) Oh this makes it even better. My reply from the ACS:"Michael Bernstein --Renard, there is no formal paper. For more information, please contactthe author at: amidhamidi@gmail.com"I didn't know you _could_ present at an ACS meeting without a paper.Science really needs to be impartially funded... NSF, EPA, something like that.There is this: http://igiwax.com/uploads/candlearticles/07%20Okometric%20report.pdfWhich is still funded by materials manufacturers, but at least includes both Cargill and IGI.Neither says anything about FOs, though, which I'm rather curious about.Oh well. Edited May 25, 2010 by radellaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelphicScorpion Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Is it really so bad to breathe paraffin? We've had candles burning in our house since I was a baby, and none of us have any tumors or anything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topofmurrayhill Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) "Michael Bernstein --Renard, there is no formal paper. For more information, please contactthe author at: amidhamidi@gmail.com"To create a paper, Tong Wang had to resort to distortion and deception. Maybe Massoudi didn't have the stomach for it. To the best of my knowledge, you can't produce the desired results in a serious study or present the necessary conclusions in an honest paper.Just read his writing. It's a transparent "fill in the grant form and try to get the money" load of nonsense. It might be annoying except it's so pathetic that it makes me feel embarrassed for him.Wang's "research" is still used to help market soy candles, and now Massoudi's unsubstantiated statements are being used for that purpose too. Edited May 25, 2010 by topofmurrayhill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radellaf Posted May 25, 2010 Author Share Posted May 25, 2010 Pretty sad. I guess they feel like they can't sell enough of _whatever it is_ on its own merits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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