# You Should Now Be Afraid of the Colour Yellow **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151 "2014-02-24T21:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/1 "2014-02-24T21:21:01Z")
Apparently everything that is yellow coloured could be poisoning you and will kill you in your sleep shortly. [They may be leaching PCB-11 from their yellow dye](http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/rutgers-study-questions-presence-of-pcbs-in-yellow-dye-1.1700734). They don’t know how much PCB-11, or what the health risks are, or how much PCB-11 you need before any damage is done, but they’re pretty sure that this is one more thing that you should be afraid of. Fuck, I hate junk science. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/2 "2014-02-24T21:36:54Z")
To be fair, it seems like reasonably sound science; it’s the overreacting fearmongering that’s a problem. It says right there in the article that we don’t know yet how much exposure is happening - obviously, since this seems to be a pretty preliminary study - but that doesn’t stop the media from yelling at us about how scared we should be. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/3 "2014-02-24T21:40:57Z")
Yeah, hate junk science reporting, not junk science. And that’s junk [science reporting], not [junk science] reporting. edit: No, hate junk science too. Hate junk science reporting, not science where the junkosity is yet to be determined. This comment is losing its snappiness. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/4 "2014-02-24T21:55:08Z")
:mad: The OP is just a plot to distract our attention from the real threat of the Color Purple! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/5 "2014-02-24T21:59:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Apparently everything that is yellow coloured could be poisoning you and will kill you in your sleep shortly. Hal Jordan could have told you that… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/6 "2014-02-24T23:57:23Z")
I’ve never trusted Yellow. Always seemed an unreliable shade to me. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/7 "2014-02-25T00:23:58Z")
No way! I ain’t yellow! ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/8 "2014-02-25T00:34:52Z")
OK, can you explain to me why this is junk science? One of my colleagues is the state’s PCBs expert. For years he has been working to raise awareness about PCB-11 in our office supply products. He only works with laboratories that are careful in their use of recycled paper since the yellow dye shows up everywhere. Just a little can contaminate his legal samples. Since the concentration threshold for PCBs that we use to determine if a waterbody is polluted is so low (think a drop in a swimming pool), contamination is a serious issue. PCBs are nothing to play around with. They are linked to everything from neurological deficits to immunological effects. I know every day we hear about yet another everyday thing that’s killing us, and we start thinking that it’s all a buncha shit. But there is no “harmless” amount of PCBs. There are some congeners that are more toxic than others, but all of it is pretty bad. These substances can also degrade into more toxic by-products. And they take forever to go away. [http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/about.htm](http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/about.htm) In my great state of Virginia, PCBs are responsible for the majority of our fish consumption advisories. And I’m guessing this holds for pretty much everywhere else. TLDR: Neither the article or the science is junk. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/9 "2014-02-25T00:35:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’ve never trusted Yellow. Always seemed an unreliable shade to me. That’s a pretty jaundiced view. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/10 "2014-02-25T00:45:56Z")
I’ve always suspected yellow … even when everybody was saying it was mauvish vermillion, mauvish vermillion, mauvish vermillion … I knew there wasn’t something right about yellow, especially on the cream side of light yellow. I’ve made it a point to never turn my back on yellow, figured I’d get knifed. It’s kinda like the middle child syndrome, yellow is the middle color among the primaries; red, yellow, blue. Red and blue get all the attention, leaving yellow out in the cold. The parents, black and white, just didn’t spend enough time with yellow when he was a lad. Shouldn’t surprise anyone he’s trying to kill us now. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/11 "2014-02-25T00:54:28Z")
I predict sales of yellow fever vaccine to go up. Invest now. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/12 "2014-02-25T00:59:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That’s a pretty jaundiced view. At least it’s not jaded. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/13 "2014-02-25T01:00:02Z")
Black and Yellow Black and Yellow ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/14 "2014-02-25T05:04:40Z")
My biggest fear of the color yellow would be getting run over by a school bus or a taxi. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/15 "2014-02-25T05:37:24Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > OK, can you explain to me why this is junk science? Because, yellow! Grrr, Arrrgh! May contain PCBs! At levels we aren’t certain of, or what levels can harm you, or what harm they do! I think **smeghead** was right - the science might be just fine, but the news story was garbage. The news story I heard on the noon news included talking to a Mommy Blogger - 'nuff said? > [@](#): > > One of my colleagues is the state’s PCBs expert. For years he has been working to raise awareness about PCB-11 in our office supply products. He only works with laboratories that are careful in their use of recycled paper since the yellow dye shows up everywhere. Just a little can contaminate his legal samples. Since the concentration threshold for PCBs that we use to determine if a waterbody is polluted is so low (think a drop in a swimming pool), contamination is a serious issue. > > PCBs are nothing to play around with. They are linked to everything from neurological deficits to immunological effects. > > I know every day we hear about yet another everyday thing that’s killing us, and we start thinking that it’s all a buncha shit. But there is no “harmless” amount of PCBs. There are some congeners that are more toxic than others, but all of it is pretty bad. These substances can also degrade into more toxic by-products. And they take forever to go away. > > [http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/about.htm](http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/about.htm) > > In my great state of Virginia, PCBs are responsible for the majority of our fish consumption advisories. And I’m guessing this holds for pretty much everywhere else. > > TLDR: Neither the article or the science is junk. I got more out of your post than I did from the news story I heard or the one I read to link here. A news story like your post would have been informative and educational, rather than just telling us that everything coloured yellow might be killing us (or our babies) now. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/16 "2014-02-25T05:51:23Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > No way! I ain’t yellow! You are what you eat. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/17 "2014-02-25T06:51:59Z")
What the shit? “[A]ccording to a new unpublished study,” how do I get national (well, Canada) coverage for something that hasn’t even been completed? I have something that I’ve been sitting on for awhile, can someone give me press coverage so I don’t have to peer review it? As far as junk reporting, I’ve seen worse. It would’ve been better if they said “linked to [some] yellow dyes, inks and paints.” The story it links too is even worse, though, in the lots of questions with no answers front. Ban Big Bird! ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/18 "2014-02-25T07:32:46Z")
This sucks. My favorite show is The Simpsons! I even work with that show in post right now!!! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/19 "2014-02-25T07:38:34Z")
I for one am never going near a number 2 pencil again. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151/20 "2014-02-25T08:02:10Z")
I’ve always been told you should never eat yellow snow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-now-be-afraid-of-the-colour-yellow/682151.md?page=2)