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06/09/2017 Dear Cecil: Was there ever any determination as to the dangerousness of Agent Orange? Of
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06/09/2017
Dear Cecil:
Was there ever any determination as to the dangerousness of Agent Orange? Of course it was dangerous to plants, but what about the grunts? I personally wouldn't want to breathe in anything the U.S. government is dropping on the enemy, but the concern in the mid-â80s seemed to be the lingering nature of the symptoms. Any ideas? â Eric Lee
Cecil replies:
âLingeringâ is certainly the mot juste â 45 years after we quit spraying it around, weâre still trying to figure out what Agent Orangeâs effects on the body are. If it seems surprising that the U.S. has yet to fully flush a Vietnam-era toxic agent from its system, consider that nobodyâs figured out how to get rid of Henry Kissinger either.
First, to recap â¦
For more, see:
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STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT â 11/02/2004
Dear Straight Dope:
Let's assume there are eight million people in New York city, and half of this population, four million, takes a dump each day. Let's also assume that each dump consists of a half pound of solids. That means that NYC produces 2 million pounds, or 1,000 tons, of the brown stuff each day. My question is, after this 1,000 tons of poop does down the bowl, where does it go? And dare I ask, what is done with it after it gets there? â r.k.
SDStaff Una replies:
Finally, a chance to write about toilet topics that isn't dirty. I'll try to explain the processes used in modern sewage treatment plants, all the while resisting the temptation to use naughty words.
For more, see:
[(
STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC â 05/19/2000
Dear Cecil:
In the past I have heard tell that you should never pee in the Amazon River lest a certain fish swim upstream into your penis and lock its fins in place in your urethra. Of course I always dismissed this as a tall tale spread by the natives to scare tourists. However, I read recently in the newspaper about the candirú fish, which allegedly does just this. Please gimme the straight poop. â Chase Kimball, via the Internet
Cecil replies:
Can't blame you for your skepticism â this is one of those stories you want desperately not to believe. Here's a description from a 1973 article in Urology by John Herman:
One of the strangest [stories from the Amazon concerned] a fish that was urinophilic and could swim up the urethra or into the vagina of the unwary native who urinated while bathing in the Amazon. It was said that this fish, known as candirú [in Brazil; as carnero in Spanish-speaking countries], was long, thin, and capable of forcing its way into the body's passageways following the trail of urine. Once inside it would eat away the mucous membranes and tissues until hemorrhage would kill it or the host. It was also said that even if one caught the fish by the tail, once in the urethra it could not be pulled out because it would spread itself like an umbrella. Indeed, rumors had it that penectomy was preferred to the misery and pain associated with leaving the fish in the urethra!
Yeah, I know. I crossed my legs too.
For more, see:
[(
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