Dr. Richard Besser, the ABC News Health and Medical Editor, had a confrontation with Dr. Oz on “Good Morning America.” Besser basically accused Oz of fear mongering. The argument was about a recent episode of Dr. Oz, where the good doctor tested apple juice for arsenic and found trace levels.
This was not news to the most folks in the medical field:
Scientists say arsenic is a naturally occurring substance, and is so abundant in the Earth’s soil that it often ends up in many of the foods we eat. However, experts make a distinction between this abundant organic arsenic, which is harmless, and inorganic arsenic, which can be found in some pesticides and other chemicals.“It is the inorganic form of arsenic in the environment that is toxic and measuring total arsenic is not informative,” said Aaron Barchowsky, a professor of environmental health at the University of Pittsburgh, who has studied the toxicity of arsenic in drinking water for 15 years.
