# Shades of Thomas Midgley Jr

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shades-of-thomas-midgley-jr/716104>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 27, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shades-of-thomas-midgley-jr/716104 "2015-03-27T12:44:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shades-of-thomas-midgley-jr/716104/1 "2015-03-27T12:44:21Z")

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[Lobbyist claims that Roundup is safe enough to drink, but declines when TV host offers him a glass.](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/lobbyist-claims-monsanto-weed-killer-is-safe-to-drink-then-bolts-when-tv-host-offers-him-a-glass/)

This reminds me of [the infamous Thomas Midgley, Jr, when he washed his hands in tetraethyl lead at a press conference to assure reporters of its safety](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley,_Jr.#Development_of_leaded_gasoline). He got lead poisoning for his trouble. I don’t think Roundup is necessarily as dangerous as tetraethyl lead, but [hoo boy is _that_ damning with faint praise](http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline)…