I heard about this experiment last Sunday, before it was cancelled, and the
following is my take on it as a distant observer with only a bare outline of
the study design:

The problem with this study was not that extra chemicals were explicitly
encouraged, but that existing harmful uses were not discouraged.  There may
have been an implied approval of the use of household chemicals, but even
without such, the project was on shaky ground.  While we could all benefit
from the information, the ethics of not trying to change potentially
dangerous behaviors is questionable.

Some of the exposure would have come from outside the family unit, but some
would have come from family members' behaviors.  In that area of the
country, use of household pesticides is apparently quite common, due to
climate and environment.

Research on human subjects is very difficult.  For instance, while
scientifically it would be ideal to randomly assign several hundred babies
to either breastfeeding or formula-feeding and then follow their lives,
measuring the differences between the two groups, it could not be done.  Not
because one cannot tell a mother how to feed her baby. We could get the
mother's permission for that. The real problem is that there is so much
evidence that formula is harmful that such a study would be unethical.  Even
though it would have the potential to save millions of lives and improve
millions more, for the sake of the few hypothetical babies in this
hypothetical study, it can't be done.  There is already a history of
unethical scientific research as a cautionary tale for humanity.

The AP reported the CHEERS study cancelled last week.  I personally have an
extremely strong desire to have information on the adverse effects of
household pesticides, especially on our children.  I don't know if it is
possible to design a study which could do this ethically--retrospective
studies are subject to error, but less subject to ethical problems.

Finally, it is possible the CHEERS study was better designed than we know,
but in the end, if the subjects aren't given full information about likely
hazards, there's a problem.  

Arly Helm, MS, IBCLC

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