# Cecil Adams referenced in AlterNet

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-referenced-in-alternet/668738>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 13, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-referenced-in-alternet/668738 "2013-09-13T02:41:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-referenced-in-alternet/668738/1 "2013-09-13T02:41:30Z")

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The ever entertaining AlterNet mentions Cecil Adams directly in regard to bed bugs and mattresses in **[7 Rip-offs You Need To Know About](http://www.alternet.org/economy/product-rip-offs?paging=off)**, by Lynn Stuart Parramore, on the 6th September.  
_Are icky little bugs filling up your bed? Oprah did a show on it. The Wall Street Journal warns that "the average mattress will double its weight in 10 years as a result of being filled with dead dust mites and their detritus.”_

_Eeek!_

_Cecil Adams over at Straight Dope looked up the claims, and found that scientists don’t buy it: “It’s nonsense,” said mite authority Larry Arlian, professor of biological sciences, microbiology, and immunology at Wright State University. “I don’t know where that originated. They’re not that prolific.”_  
Also, oddly: _All told, there’s been an 812 percent increase in the price of college textbooks since 1978._

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-adams-referenced-in-alternet/668738/2 "2013-09-13T12:40:43Z")

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Thanks for calling this to our attention, much appreciated.