I was reminded recently by a respected colleague in a comment posted on baby gooroo® of the importance of knowing your sources.

Unfortunately or fortunately, there is so much information available today, it is increasingly difficult to separate the credible from the incredible. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that science is seldom black or white as evidenced by our inability to answer the following questions without qualifications.

Is bed-sharing safe? Is there a link between mercury-containing vaccines and autism? Should there be routine testing for vitamin D? Are breastfed babies smarter?

I have several sources that I use consistently and with seemingly good results—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, American Academy of Pediatrics, Institute of Medicine, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—but every source (governmental, professional, or commercial) has its critics.

Assessing the credibility of scientific journal articles offers unique challenges. A variety of factors merit consideration—methodology, sample size, publication date, credentials of the author(s). In addition, one must acknowledge that a single article is seldom representative of the entire body of evidence.

Name Your Sources
I’d like to suggest a cooperative venture—a mechanism for creating a list of credible or uncredible sources. I’ll begin by describing a source and asking baby gooroo® readers to share their comments along with their vote—credible or incredible.

Source: The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is a consumer education consortium concerned with issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment, and health. ACSH is described as an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization.

The nucleus of the ACSH is a board of 350 physicians, scientists and policy advisors—experts in a wide variety of fields, who review the Council’s reports and participate in ACSH seminars, press conferences, media communications, and other educational activities.

ACSH was founded in 1978 by a group of scientists who had become concerned that many important public policies related to health and the environment did not have a sound scientific basis. These scientists created the organization to add reason and balance to debates about public health issues and bring common sense views to the public.

With these goals in mind, ACSH produces a wide range of publications including peer-reviewed reports on important health and environmental topics and HealthFactsAndFears. The organization has also produced a documentary, Big Fears, Little Risks, narrated by Walter Cronkite (If you can’t believe Walter Cronkite, who can you believe?)

According to founder, Dr. Elizabeth Whelan (Harvard and Yale graduate), “Critics have over the years referred to ACSH as a creation of the ‘petrochemical industry.’ In fact, though, ACSH did not accept funding—even general operating funding—from any corporation or trade association for the first two years of operation. Nonetheless, the media still regularly implied that ACSH had industry support. When ACSH released a report saying that New Jersey’s so-called “cancer alley” was not a real case of industrial chemicals raising cancer rates, the Star-Ledger called ACSH a surrogate for the petrochemical industry. The ACSH Board of Directors concluded that what critics objected to was not ACSH’s funding but ACSH’s views—and that in avoiding corporate donations we were limiting ACSH’s fundraising potential to no avail. So the Board voted to henceforth accept funding from corporations as long as no strings were attached. This remains the fundraising policy today, with about 40% of ACSH funding coming from private foundations, about 40% from corporations, and the rest from the sale of ACSH publications. The important thing, though, is not the source of your funding but the accuracy of the points you make, and ACSH’s scientific advisors and use of peer review keep us honest.”

Now that you know a little bit about ACSH, take a look at its Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2007.

Scare #1: Lipstick Is Toxic (Lead in Cosmetics)

Scare #2: Fluoridated Water Jeopardizes Your Health

Scare #3: Red Meat and Processed Meat Increase Cancer Risk

Scare #4: PFOA Causes Low Birth Weight Babies

Scare #5: Nitrites in Cured Meat Cause Lung Disease

Scare #6: Roses Are Toxic

Scare #7: Rubber Ducks Are Toxic (Phthalates Endanger Children)

Scare #8: Vaccines Cause Autism

Scare #9: Office Printers Are as Hazardous as Secondhand Cigarette Smoke

Scare #10: Water Bottles Cause Cancer

If you think you’re having trouble deciphering the truth, you’re not alone.

Perhaps Jacob Bronowski, British mathematician, said it best, “No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.”