Can you trust material safety data sheets found online?

The world can be a very confusing and misleading place. When it comes to chemicals and how they interact with the environment, it is always vital information to know. If you are someone who works in a field that uses chemicals, you know how important it is to keep everything safe and clear. In an industry where details are very important, finding quicker ways to get the information you need can seem very enticing. This helps increase productivity and can aid in getting projects done quicker. However, this can also be misleading and lead to accidents and disasters.

The internet has become a behemoth in our modern times. It holds the accumulation of all of mankind’s knowledge and is an extremely helpful tool in finding anything you could possibly want. However, the internet can also cause a lot of harm. There are many people on the internet who aim to cause chaos and put false information out into the world knowing full well that it will cause trouble. This is why you can’t always believe what you read on the internet. Material safety data sheets may not be the subject of malicious misrepresentation, however, if the information is mislabeled or out of date the results can be just as bad.

Material safety data sheets acquired from free websites online should be looked at with a discerning eye. It is important to recognize the importance of this information out in the field and that this information should be acquired from a reliable source. This is why an organization like Toxplanet is helpful to turn the tide on people who put harmful information out on the internet. If you are someone who is looking for MSDS online, a site like Toxplanet can help you. Their aim is to provide toxicology and chemical literature that is reliable at the fingertips of professionals who have the ability to do the most good with it.

While it's great to be able to gain access to free material (and in truth, there are definitely SOME sources of good free MSDS info out there), if you absolutely must have accurate, up to date information it makes sense to go for a paid subscription service. The better paid services ensure that all of their information is current and useful in the modern professional landscape. The internet can be a very useful tool for people to find the information they need in a quick and timely manner. However, out of date, incorrect or just downright false information can lead to very dangerous situations when working with chemicals. It's a matter of costs versus benefits, and when it comes to dealing with chemicals, we'd err on the side of caution and pony up the money.

Mystical and Spooky Fun in Mystic, CT

If you're looking for some chilling fun this Halloween, then Mystic county has a lot to offer in ghoulish adventures. Here are some of the events and activities (for a variety of ages) happening around Mystic in anticipation of Halloween. 

How Accurate Are ELISA Test Kits?

What is an ELISA test?
 
Whether or not you've ever heard of an ELISA test, chances are you've crossed paths with one in your lifetime. Technically, the name stands for "enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay". In english that means it's a wet lab test where a wet lab sample (often blood or urine) are attached to a surface. An antibody for the substance is added and after it links to the enzyme a substrate is added and the test gives you a result - usually by changing colors. This basic process is laid out on the right.

What is it used for?

ELISA tests have a tremendous number of uses. They can be used as a screening for cancer, pregnancy tests, bacterial diseases, autoimmune diseases like HIV, as well as drug testing and steroid testing. If you've ever had to take a urine drug test for a job it's quite likely you've taken an ELISA test.

Outside of your direct personal health, ELISA kits are also used to detect the presence of allergens. These can be used in restaurants or other facilities where contamination with certain allergens like nuts can prove fatal for potential customers.

Accuracy is definitely important

Just reading through the preceding paragraphs you'll notice that many of the uses of ELISA tests are of vital importance. Whether it's passing a drug test to get a new position or making sure someone with a severe nut allergy doesn't die when they open a package of cookies, ELISA tests better work. While there isn't a tremendous amount of across the board research, most publications do recommend for things such as HIV diagnosis that there are at least three positive tests done with an ELISA test to confirm an HIV diagnosis. Simply googling results for ELISA test accuracy will show you a tremendous amount of results on highly specific testing and their specificity. Often times you will see numbers above 90%, but rarely anywhere near a six sigma number.

Why is this important? Because whether you're going in for a diagnosis or a drug test, there's the possibility of false positives and false negatives. If you are told you fail a drug test and know the type of test being performed, you can rightfully request a new test. Knowledge in this case is definitely power.

Copenhagen

Many will know that I am constantly striving to find the place. A place that I feel some association to. A place where work, life, and culture blend together seamlessly. A place that I may like to live one day, or if I am wealthy enough buy second homes.

On arriving into Copenhagen, I had almost forgotten my subconscious mission as I have been slightly absorbed in making a permanent move to Manchester. A move that will likely see me in England until 2010, but who knows in the 21st Century?

Yet stepping off the train, as I made a connection to the City metro, my research was awakened. It did not take much, just two ladies cleaning a lamp post on the platform. An innovation in the UK, especially as both looked very happy in their work. They also looked like folk you could happily have an interesting conversation with over coffee.

Walking around the city I was drawn to the history of Copenhagen, classic European architecture and styling, but also the modernity and quality of shopping outlets, mixed with social spaces and University styled coffee houses, filled with students huddled around their computers and data devices.

I also learnt that the Danes are marked by modesty. They are not comfortable with stating their life, aren't concerned about career advice or successes, size of house, price of car, or next far flung holiday destination. This seems to diminish the sense of capitalism, and perhaps leads to more interesting conversation about family, people, and place. This culture, I would imagine, would fly against the threats to happiness (TV and capitalism) as cited in the presentation by Alexander Kjerulf at Reboot. I am not sure how seriously to take this, as capitalism has afforded me the opportunity to write this blog, but the reference is there.

I could continue writing, but I don’t think I could capture the one thing that attracted me to Copenhagen. I think the answer was in the subtleties of people and place. The following pictures capture the subtly:

Notice how the coffee cup doesn't have a gap. I think the barista is assuming that you will want to sit down and enjoy your drink, rather than rushing to the next thing.

This picture was genuinely taking at 9am on a Thursday morning. Traditionally a rush-hour time in most European cities. I felt more relaxed leaving the metro than I did boarding. I guess the next picture tells us why the metro is not perhaps as packed as it might be. Bicycle lanes line all of Copenhagen roads, which again are notably light in traffic.

And aside from the subtleties, Copenhagen simply struck me as an stunning place.

Given that European boundaries have now evaporated, we are free to live and work in any European state, perhaps there is now the option to move yourself to the place that you associate yourself with the most, and not necessarily the place you were born? Perhaps I need to set a five-year plan and move myself over there, although tax is high and cost of living is far from cheap.

Maybe, then, I look to date Helena Christensen who associates herself with Monaco, Manhattan, and Copenhagen (houses in all), and she even likes photography. Having said that, could I possibly take the chance of being dumped? That would be a hard break-up to take. Having said that, the pain could be eased by receiving the Copenhagen pad as a parting gift.

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How about our Amendments?

I recently realized that I haven't told you something which I find kind of cool. I'm a woman (jeez, typed in girl first!). You know women, we have our idols. Generations before me have had greats like Frank "Chairman of the Board" Sinatra, Elvis "Has left the building" Presley, Tom "take my undies" Jones, Sean "Bond, James Bond" Connery... Well. My dude, my ultimate king of men is - drumroll please - William Jefferson Clinton!!!

And after all that's happened in the last few weeks, I've decided to boycot the 22nd amendment of the constitution. Why? Because this man should return to the White House. Hey, if FDR did it four times, Bill can come in any day he wants.

Just think back. Close your eyes. Take deep breaths for your health. Imagine you have traveled back in time. It's 1992. Ah. Everything is much better now, right? Economy is better. More available jobs. Taxes raised on the rich. And after 8 loving and interesting years... we get a gift. A huge surplus. Why thank you, Mr. Clinton. You rock.

Now, if I count back from three to one, you will slowly get back into reality.

Three: thousands of people either jobless, poor, struggling to make it or dead by terrorism or by war - instigated by a small trigger happy cowboy who loves to go on vacations.

Two: private no-bid contracts to friends in the government making many people rich. Go Halliburton! Hope you clean up good the neighborhood!

One: a president who can't even say Nuclear right, even once. And those are just tidbits. We won't go into the Pet Goat incident. Just too painful.

Yeah. Reality is a drag. Right?

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The Rant of Clare Short

Clare Short, a Labor MP and former cabinet minister, is to give up her parliamentary seat. A large section of the Labor party must be delighted. She must have been viewed as a liability and an embarrassment. One can’t help thinking that she’s lost it since leaving the cabinet. On television interviews and debates she often comes over as being quite mad and bitter.

She quit the cabinet and her position as international development secretary in protest of Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war. She was famously joined by former foreign secretary and the now deceased, Robin Cook. At least he came across as being rational and reasonable.  Clare Short apparently had moral objections to the Iraq war and to Britain‘s foreign policy.

Short thinks Tony Blair has dishonored the UK, undermined the UN and international law and helped to make the world a more dangerous place. She also thinks New Labor lacks principles and is arrogant. All of these accusations might be perfectly true.  But Clare Short can’t escape the fact that she was part of the New Labor project and fully enjoyed the fruits of its electoral victory. She went along with political spin, was happy to get into the Cabinet and supported the “ dishonorable” Tony Blair. Also, Tony Blair’s support for the US is nothing new. He did so from day one.

The whole special relationship with the US has been a cornerstone of British foreign policy since Winston Churchill instituted it during world war two. As for being immoral, what did Clare Short think foreign aid was all about? To help the world’s poor? No, it’s just another instrument of foreign policy and is there to influence a poor country to support the UK and to help indirectly promote commercial interests.

Clare Short’s political goal is apparently to get a hung parliament. Whether that happens or not will have little to do with her. If anything Clare Short comes over as having lost it, not to mention a just a tad hypocritical. 

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