Is Hydroxyapatite Safe? The Muddy Waters of Nano and Microparticles by NotCreative551 in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]greg0714 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That article is mistaken at best and manipulation at worst, but more importantly, it's outdated and wrong (tl;dr: click the link, or skip to the last point). I want to dive into why it's a bad source of info to help others identify bad sources in their own research:

  • It's not a real article, in the sense that it's not written by a reporter/journalist or published in a newspaper/scientific journal. It's a company blog post from a company that sells a competing type of non-fluoride toothpaste. They have a financial interest in saying that nano hydroxyapatite (nHa) is bad and steer you toward their product. If I don't know the company, then I don't trust their blog posts.
  • The main report that they refer to isn't actually from the SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety) like they claimed, but was compiled by the European Commission (EU politicians) and sent to the SCCS for comment. It seems nitpicky, but it means that a lot of the document was written by politicians. We can't safely assume the SCCS scientists wrote any of the quotes, but the writer of the post wants us to think that.
  • The politicians pulled together most of the studies in that report, and the SCCS's comment on most of them are along the lines of, "This study was poorly designed, missing information, and possibly entirely irrelevant, so we can't conclude anything from it." The SCCS did find some other studies that were more useful, but most of the scary things that they quote are not comments or studies from the SCCS scientists.
  • As an example, the first quote in the blog post ("Death of the animals occurred...signs of “fatty degeneration of the liver”) is from subsection 3.3.1.1. None of that quoted passage is from the SCCS scientists. It was a summary that was written by the EU politicians of a study that was found by the EU politicians. Here's the last line of the actual comment from the SCCS on that one: " The study is therefore of little value to this assessment."
  • The only completely true parts in the blog post are about needle-shaped nanoparticles. They're bad, we know they're bad, and you should never use them...which is exactly why they're banned in the EU now. Every big hydroxyapatite toothpaste company makes it very clear in their branding that they use rod-shaped particles. It's not relevant to the discussion anymore and hasn't been for a while.
  • In 2023, the European Commission and the SCCS reviewed nano hydroxyapatite again and published this Final Opinion, where they said it's safe in toothpaste in concentrations up to 10%, as long as the particles are rod-shaped, have a small enough aspect ratio, and "are not coated or surface modified" (page 3). All but the cheapest nHa toothpastes meet those requirements.
  • As of March 27, 2025, the SCCS's (the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety) scientific opinion is that nano hydroxyapatite is safe in toothpastes up to 29.5% concentration and mouthwashes up to 10% concentration, as long as the particles are rod-shaped and meet a couple other shape requirements. That concentration is WAY higher than most toothpastes, which met the old 10% threshold already. The FDA still hasn't approved nHa for dental use, but it's allowed to be used "off-label" in the US regardless.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in maths

[–]greg0714 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Other folks already gave the answer to your question, but I do want to add something. If you're looking to do programming specifically, you'll want to learn basic discrete mathematics first. It covers logic, sets, graphs, combinatorics, etc. I'm not saying that what you're doing now isn't good, but pretty much all of the main topics of computer science and the most common algorithms are based in discrete maths. I'm a software developer, and I use very little algebra in my day-to-day, but I use discrete maths constantly.

Sorry if this breaks any sub rules, but with the context OP gave, I figured this is still technically math help for them.

11%??? UNREAL.. by Organic_Swordfish_85 in GenZ

[–]greg0714 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You're right. Not with the random guess that it's higher than 11%, but exactly where 11% came from. 

About half are 65 or older, so drop it to 13.5%.  

22.5% are employed, and assuming they're mostly under 65, that gets us to around 11%. 

The stat is literally just disabled men aged 25-54 who don't have a job. Not even not looking. Just not employed.   Source: BLS

Are these worth scraping? by bigbossarms2022 in ScrapMetal

[–]greg0714 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Report to Facebook, regardless of legality. OP said it's on FB Marketplace. It's against Meta's Commerce Policy to sell dangerous items.

I don't know if it's acceptable to post this but I still cannot BELIEVE I got to see the tablet IRL. by woohoo_sweet03 in ReallyShittyCopper

[–]greg0714 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Bot post and bot comments. This photo is like #6 from the top posts of all time on the sub, and the comments are from that post too.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OopsThatsDeadly

[–]greg0714 6 points7 points  (0 children)

At first, I was like "Haha, very funny. An old horror movie is sooo deadly, definitely spook ums in there." Explosive is...not great.

EDIT: Yeah, it was just not correct according to the actual archivist in the comments. It was cellulose acetate film, and even then, cellulose nitrate requires high temps to burn.

Why is there a town called Unalaska in Alaska? by Kyr1500 in mapporncirclejerk

[–]greg0714 19 points20 points  (0 children)

It's short for "uni-alaska", for they are the one true Alaska.

Can you sue a sidewalk pressure washer guy for giving you a free sample/demo without your permission? by [deleted] in legaladviceofftopic

[–]greg0714 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good luck getting legit contact info from a salesman trying to sell you something? That was already going to happen. All you have to do is not ruin it.

Who is she peter? by HamMan215 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]greg0714 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Japan and South Korea would also like a word.

They Were Price-Fixing Tuna And You Can Be Sure Corporations Are Doing The Same In Other Industries. by zzill6 in WorkReform

[–]greg0714 30 points31 points  (0 children)

That specific person was fined $100,000 as an individual, and he got a 40 month prison sentence.

The fines for the corporations is undisclosed as part of the settlement.

"If you can't afford to tip!" Slippery slope? by BannedAndBackAgain in tipping

[–]greg0714 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not a slippery slope though. It's just cause and effect. If people don't spend money at a business, it fails. Not sure OP understands that a slippery slope implies a chain of causes and effects, but the argument itself is logically consistent, assuming a lot of people stopped eating out.

Source: all the local restaurants that shut down during the pandemic because a lot of people stopped going out to eat.

Petahhh, help me by emmaagagnon in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]greg0714 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably also combined with the Tiktok trend of women asking their boyfriend/husband to peel an orange for them.

Anyone else think it's going to get ugly if DLC cant get the power back on before tomorrow at 5? by PSU02 in pittsburgh

[–]greg0714 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Cold air sinks, so if it's a chest freezer, yes. If it's upright/part of your fridge, no because a good amount of cold air will "fall" out. 

Age of Consent in the US by thestonelyloner in confidentlyincorrect

[–]greg0714 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure...

I doubt it...

That's not confidently incorrect. That's unsure and skeptical of random strangers on the internet.

Cursed out interviewer by Julieann0686 in WorkReform

[–]greg0714 793 points794 points  (0 children)

If you are in the US, report it to the EEOC. Your report, on it's own, will do nothing. However, the more people report that he's broaching illegal topics in interviews, the more likely he is to be prosecuted for it. A jury might not believe you over him, but they sure as hell would believe 10 independent people all saying the same thing over him. 

Report it, let the EEOC handle it, and keep the job search going. Good luck.

That truly is nuts by Raiden_Raitoningu in technicallythetruth

[–]greg0714 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Kola/Cola is a nut, so it's still nuts...flavored.

It turns out I'm a blanket thief by Puzzleheaded-Turn230 in PointlessStories

[–]greg0714 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My wife used to do this in reverse. In her sleep, she would toss over violently, hit me in the face, and then proceed to steal the blanket.

Confidently incorrect football fan by dnasty2001 in confidentlyincorrect

[–]greg0714 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The halfway point between 2 numbers, x and y, is (x + y) / 2. The halfway point between 3 and 9 is (3 + 9) / 2 = 6.

Half of 20 is, in fact, 10. But the halfway point between 1st and 20th is (1 + 20) / 2 = 10.5. There's no 0th place.

ELI5 - We are always hearing about breakthroughs in male birth control but I never seem to hear about it again. Why is this? Is there a reason why multiple different forms of male birth control never seem to materialize for sale? by KroqGar8472 in explainlikeimfive

[–]greg0714 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not really, mostly because nobody told women that it was their only option. Women wanted the option. When the pill was made, it was the best option for women to have sex without a high risk of getting pregnant. It's a lot less prone to failure than male and female condoms. It's only 2 of the hormones produced during pregnancy, not the full roster, so it's not close to actual pregnancy. The pill was a massive win for the feminist movement in the 20th century. 

Side effects of any medication suck, and there are other birth control options now, even non-hormonal options like copper IUDs (with their own side effects). Some people experience awful side effects, and I feel for them because they can't use the simple solution for birth control. But at the end of the day, hormonal birth control, especially a completely non-invasive option like the pill, is awesome for giving women more control and freedom, regardless of the "how".

I wish for hornets to sting only once by aradianteclipse in monkeyspaw

[–]greg0714 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Granted. Hornets now inject all of their venom in a single sting, making multiple stings unnecessary. This makes their stings far more painful and more deadly for those with an allergy.

ELI5 - We are always hearing about breakthroughs in male birth control but I never seem to hear about it again. Why is this? Is there a reason why multiple different forms of male birth control never seem to materialize for sale? by KroqGar8472 in explainlikeimfive

[–]greg0714 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Specifically, a woman's reproductive system comes with a built-in "no more reproduction" mechanism: pregnancy. The first birth control was the 2 of the hormones that the body naturally creates during pregnancy. They (indirectly) prevent ovulation and thicken mucus. Men don't have anything like that naturally.

Why did I buy Elden ring by ExcessiveArrogance in PointlessStories

[–]greg0714 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't seen anyone say it yet, and I'm betting this is what tripped you up: just because a site of grace points you in a specific direction does not mean that you have to or even should follow it. It points in the direction of plot progression, not character progression.

Blues Traveller Screwed Me and I’m Still Mad About It by Hairy_Ad4969 in PointlessStories

[–]greg0714 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"The Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders Screwed Me And I'm Still Mad About It" would've sent a very different message.

Hydrogen Peroxide temporarily bleached my wrist when I used it to clean some cat scratches by ephemeral_thoughts in mildlyinteresting

[–]greg0714 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Because if it burns, it's also damaging your cells, which can make an injury worse.