CSO Disclosure Series | Reporter's Notebook: The United States of TMI

Lead paint in toys. Brain-eating amoeba. Identity theft. Drowning in sand. We know more than ever about the risks all around us. Do we know what disclosing them all is doing to us?

February 25, 2008 — CSO — I’D LIKE TO SAY that the writing that had the most profound effect on me this year was some classic novel I picked up in my spare time, but in fact it was an Associated Press article. Last June, AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe wrote a fascinating, harrowing story about large holes dug in beach sand that can collapse "horrifyingly fast" and cause a person in the hole to drown. Stobbe described one case when a teenager ran back to catch a football, fell in a hole and disappeared under a cascade of sand. When his friends approached to help, more sand caved over him. He was buried for at least fifteen minutes and eventually suffocated. Stobbe discloses in the article that, while they’re virtually unheard of, collapsing sand holes are actually more common than "splashier threats" like shark attacks.

Unfortunately, I read the story right before going on vacation with my family, to the beach. Sometimes, the story trespassed on my mind. I found myself scanning the beach for holes left behind by beachgoers who didn’t know about the monster that lived in the sable but unstable sand. I wondered why I would voluntarily give my kids shovels and pails--the very tools of their demise. I’m actually worried about the beach--the beach!--swallowing up my kids.

And that’s not all I’m worried about. After a summer of sand terror, and tracking mosquitoes with Triple-E and dead birds with West Nile Virus, I fretted to see a constant stream of headlines like ... Brain-eating amoeba kills 6 this year. Drugmakers recall infant cough/cold medicine; ConAgra shuts down pot pie plant because of salmonella concerns; Listeria precaution prompts recall of chicken & pasta dish.

Then came the Great Lead Recalls of 2007, when parents learned that everything from toys to tires are laden with toxic heavy metal. Oh, and my toothpaste might have a chemical in it that’s usually found in antifreeze and brake fluid.

Also, MRSA, the so-called superbug that resists antibiotics, is "more deadly than AIDS" and a new strain of adenovirus means that now the common cold can kill me. Also, my Christmas lights have lead in them. Finally, I found Boston.com’s page called "Tainted Food, Tainted Products" where I could track all of the products that were potentially deadly to me, including everything from mushrooms containing illegal pesticides to lead-bearing charity bracelets. Charity bracelets!

It’s enough to make you want to hid