I think it is admirable that our municipality is concerned with skin cancer.
“It seemed like a good thing to do for the public to increase awareness of skin cancer and to provide materials that would help prevent that serious disease,” said Rudy Sukal, acting director of Mt. Lebanon's Public Works Department.Mr. Sukal should be more concerned with dead trees that create unsafe conditions in our local parks.
Will Mt. Lebanon be providing signage that sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours without factoring in humidity or sweat? Is the municipality creating a false sense of security? Some sunscreens have cancer causing ingredients. Will there be a list of ingredients posted? What about allergic reactions? What happens if the dispenser is empty and someone gets sunburn? Will we be sued? The FDA has regulations concerning sunscreens. Is anyone in the municipality qualified to recommend or establish which sunscreens meet these regulations? Then there are the ecosystems that the prokill people are concerned with. Did you know that sunscreens must be "reef safe?" I sold sunscreen for a living. Did you know that sunscreen is considered by the FDA as an over the counter drug? Is Mt. Lebanon permitted to dispense OTC drugs?
With all this concern, will Mt. Lebanon be posting warning signs at the toxic turf? The public needs to be aware of the potential dangers of tire crumb rubber. We must be consistent, Folks.
15 comments:
Why isn't Letterman still on the air? This stuff IS good. My favorite will always be the crumb rubber (and the deer killers dressed as golfers).
Public sunscreen dispenser? That is wrong on so many levels.
Nice thought but in today's world, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Also a vandalism target of the highest order.
Actually - They should put some Neosporin near the toxic turf for when the kiddies get rug burn!
My letter to the commission, solicitor, manager, and PW director:
Commissioners,
I was quite surprised to read an article in the Trib about a sunscreen dispenser in Main Park. While it is a nice gesture, I found it to be ironic that you don't know enough about what plants are deer resistant, but are now experts in sunscreens. I can say that after selling sunscreen for Johnson & Johnson for seven years, I might know a little more about the subject than you folks. Sunscreen is an OTC drug. It must be labeled. An ingredient list must be listed. Some sunscreens cause cancer. Some sunscreens don't work. Some sunscreens cause allergies.
In my blog post, http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2015/06/deer-resistant-plant-signs-are-too.html, you were hesitant to have little deer resistant signs in two planters in front of the municipal building, but have no problem dispensing OTC drugs in our parks.
There was a report on NBC a little less than a week ago on sunscreens. http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/19338071#19338071
Who authorized the sunscreen dispenser? The Parks Advisory Board? Public Works? You? Steve Feller?
I wish Mt. Lebanon would be consistent.
Deerleerious signs = bad
Dispensing OTC drugs in our parks = good
Artificial turf warning signs = bad
Elaine Gillen
Hired killers posing as golfers = good (comedy)
Just when I think I will never SMILE again at the actions of our Commission, they engage in a little light-hearted frolic like this one and it makes me LAUGH OUT LOUD (LOL!). Will these be chemical sun screens or physical barriers? What are they intending to do to prevent tampering, tainting, or pilfering? Will they have the formerly-deployed "corn police" policing the sunscreen stations; will they employ tree-mounted cameras to watch for activists; will we have a new SKIN CANCER CAMPAIGN to take the focus OFF toxic turf, deer poaching, and Pay At The Curb; will people be required to sign some kind of release, holding the community and its agents harmless in the event of some (any) adverse reactions OR development of the very disease sought to be prevented; is it REALLY the job of our esteemed leadership to protect not only our gardens but now our very skins??? Are WE crazy, or are THEY crazy?
I like the part about whether it will be chemical sunscreen or physical barriers. It may be the latter.
Almanac - Mt. Lebanon public works officials agreed to Pirain’s proposal and installed the dispenser on June 17.
PUBLIC WORKS ?
What do you think kids will refill the containers with? And you're going to rub it on your arms and face!!!!!!!!!
There is a decision made buy the appropriate person/department!
Big news on KDKA News tonight! Must be the PIO spoon feeding the media.
Like I said previously, it is a nice thought and I'm sure everyone meant well but there was no big picture thinking going on prior to the decision being made.
I'm not sure I see the irony here. How is this different than widely available hand sanitizer dispensers? Aren't they also considered OTC drugs? They have drug fact labels on them.
Do hand sanitizers promise to prevent skin cancer and sunburn ?
What about eye injuries? Kids being kids will get whatever is in these dispensers in their eyes. Will the township have to pay for all these injuries? Also what happens if as a prank someone adds say superglue, red dye or who knows what to the dispensers? Who pays when the people harmed sue? Anyone else getting the feeling that the smart people have left the "Bubble" leaving the dumb to rule? Like in the 70's when the School Board so famously built an area in the High School so kids could smoke (take drugs) while having several crossing guards because they couldn't safely cross Cochran Road.
I'm not sure I worry about all the smart people leaving the "Bubble" to the dumb; Elaine knows plenty of smart people too stubborn to surrender the community, many of whom regularly post well-reasoned positions on this very blog. What I worry about is the true-believers, the ideologues who are convinced to the core that it is the function of good government to substitute their judgment of what's best for us all for our rights to self-governance. Given the apparent lack of wisdom, reasoned responses, and good judgment being reflected in the positions being taken by the Commission (and consequently being forced down our throats!), I frequently worry that the INMATES MAY HAVE TAKEN OVER THE ASYLUM!
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/letters/2015/07/02/Mt-Lebanon-park-offers-protection-against-skin-cancer-but-not-Lyme-disease/stories/201507020145
Guess she missed the part of her referenced article that said the dispenser was donated.
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