[1734] in Humor
HUMOR: Stupid Human Tricks
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Andrew Bennett)
Mon Dec 2 15:06:17 1996
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 14:51:25 -0500
To: humor@MIT.EDU
From: abennett@MIT.EDU (Andrew Bennett)
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 14:40:59 EST
From: "Mark A. Herschberg" <hershey@MIT.EDU>
From: tpleune@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 09:56:44 EST
Radon in old mines seen as mystery cure
December 1, 1996
Web posted at: 5:40 p.m. EST
From Correspondent David Mattingly
BOULDER, Montana (CNN) -- Old
mines in the Montana mountains are
being visited once more in pursuit of a
new treasure -- a substance said by
some to cure every kind of ailment from
asthma to aching bones.
The catch: the substance is radon, a radioactive gas which the federal
government claims can kill a person. It even sets household exposure limits.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says radon is the nation's second
leading cause of lung cancer.
Every year, thousands of believers from all over the U.S. and Canada make the
journey to the mountains around Boulder. There they pay to sit for hours inside
the mines, soaking up the invisible treatment.
Mine operators point to recent studies
contradicting the EPA position that even
small amounts of radiation can hurt you.
Though there is no scientific evidence,
there's a growing belief among some
people that a little radiation can help the
body fight disease and heal injuries.
Iowa farmer Calvin Bauer says he
doesn't know whether it was his trip to a
radon mine that cured the searing pain in
his arm. He just knows he can now work
his farm again.
Dr. Phil Pallister, Boulder's former town doctor, said he
has seen people put their lives at risk in the mines, and
thinks the so-called cures are all in people's heads, a
kind of psychic phenomena
Montana has no safety laws protecting those who
choose to sit in the mines, and state Radiation Inspector
George Eicholtz said while he doesn't think it's safe
behavior, he has no regulatory authority.
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Andrew Bennett MIT Department Ocean Engineering
MIT Room 5-424 77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139 <Standard Disclaimers Apply> Phone: (617) 253-7950
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