My Malignant Melanoma

Here's today's bit of creeping nonsense on the What Now site-the return of the completely unfounded aluminium and cancer story, embellished with the usual "environmental toxins" claims.

What good does it do for anyone to make people scared of the 21st century, based on internet scare stories and hoax emails? There is research which suggests that the originators of such beliefs are actually mentally ill. Those who repeat them are often opposed in some way to modern life, and have an axe to grind.

The post contains no grain of truth, but its most glaring errors are:

There is no evidence whatever that Antiperspirants cause cancer

We have not "been told not to cook in aluminium pans" by any reputable scientific body

We are not breathing lead in the air, lead in petrol was phased out in the year 2000

Chlorine and all other chemicals allowed in drinking in water cause no harm at the concentration they are present at. This has been extensively researched.

Make-up and other beauty products available in the west have been rigorously tested to make sure they do not cause skin or other diseases

The source of these scare stories is ultimately mentally ill people, vegans, and alternative medicine promoters (not mutually exclusive groups).

The post does not promote alternative medicine directly, but does cause unnecessary fear and alarm in a vulnerable population with a whole slew of groundless claims. Don't worry, it is rubbish from start to finish.

And then we have this blatant nonsense. It has already been flagged, so even people as "encouraging of open debate" as the site admins should surely do something about it, though the claim that homoeopathy can shrink tumours is still up, so who knows?

"there is cure for all types of cancers and tumours by secretly guraded herbal medicines and the cost is peanuts as compared to expensive hopspital treatments with no cure and only maintenance.this medicine can cure all types of cancers and tumors even in the last stage. so if you are desparate to find cure take this herbal medicine.results starts from the first day".

Note however that the information content of this email is exactly the same as the more eloquent and guarded posts from the site's resident promoters of quackery:

1. "natural" medicines can cure cancer, but a conspiracy exists to suppress them
2. conventional treatments do not cure cancer, but natural treatments can

This poster's blatant appeal to the desperate and his personal illiteracy does not make him any more wrong than those spouting nonsense in a similar vein on the site, in posts which are still up despite my flagging them long ago.

He's just a bit more foreign, and probably a bit poorer. Surely no-one would choose to attempt to exploit desperate cancer patients if there were jobs available to them doing something less contemptible? You know, like strangling kittens or making child pornography.