Someone give me an idea for a paper

[PurdueRy]

Basically something that put customers/people at risk or actually injured/killed people.

Some ideas that were mentioned in the assignment itself are:

1. Enron
2. Union Carbide (Bhopal, India)
3. Firestone/Ford (SUV tires)
4. NASA (Space Shuttle Challenger or Columbia)
5. Ford Pinto (Gas Tank)
6. Recent congressional bribery cases

So I would like something different than those. If anyone here has any interesting ideas I could research it would be much appreciated.

 

[S Freud]

I would say you have 6 very good topic choices righ there. :thumbsup:

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: S Freud
I would say you have 6 very good topic choices righ there. :thumbsup:

They're good...but lots of people will be doing those since they were mentioned as possibilities. Just wanted to see if anyone had any other ideas.

 

[radioouman]

Dupont's Teflon (perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA)

 

[ChaoZ]

I read something like how PG&E super used have this program that charged tenants in apartments to fix something if it didn't work. But actually the super was responsible to doing it for free. So PG&E didn't tell their customers about that and basically pay for something which they really didn't need to. I can't remember the specifics of it.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: radioouman
Dupont's Teflon (perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA)

Seems like an interesting one. I will read into it

 

[WildHorse]

Great topic. Suggest you submit your finished work for publication in newspapers, magazines, etc.

some relevant search words:

dioxin dumping

superfund cleanup w/ case studies (this is something you can cite as a proper source) Text

Superfund National Priorities List (another to give you a proper footnotable source of pollution locations)

illegal hazardous waste dumping

(companies that generate the waste don't want to pay fees for its disposal so they send tanker trucks out in the desert & on remote mountain roads, open the stop cocks, & let the liquid waste spray out as they drive along. Or tanker boat it onto the ocean & dump into sea. Or offshore production where no laws restrain their waste dumping. Or truck horrible nearly-eternally persistent chemicals from US to Mexico for cheap careless dumping.)

medical waste disposal (where do those severed body parts, exized tumors, etc. go? not always incinerated, sometimes dumped.)

and don't even get started with nuclear waste disposal issues

White House won't tax corporations for Superfund cleanup (but they generated the waste that needs the cleaning up)

 

[ggnl]

How about Nestle's decision to market baby formula to poor mothers in Africa? It's not as nutritional as breastmilk, and it puts the baby at risk for drinking unsanitary water.

Edit: Link!

 

[SSSnail]

Coke

 

[r6ashih]

what about to coca cola scandal where they had "death squads" kill union leaders?
Text

 

[JMWarren]

How about most of the things George Soros had a hand in. Even he admits they should have been illegal.

 

[jammur21]

General Motors streetcar conspiracy

Thanks GM, the traffic here in LA is terrific

 

[smack Down]

There was the value jet plane that crash in the FL swap.
The titanic
Exxon valdez

Edit you could aways pick a sin product like drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc.

 

[JSFLY]

Monsanto

The reason I don't drink Milk anymore. The Milk they sell in the US would actually be considered undrinkable in Canada and some European nations.

 

[yankeesfan]

Ethyl Corporation using Tetra-ethyl lead in their gasoline, knowing that it was harmful to workers.

 

[CrazyHelloDeli]

How about Bill Gates ganking all of IBM's ideas.

 

[Black88GTA]

St. Francis Dam disaster? LOTS on google.

Or, there's a whole list of man-made disasters here. Just pick one, research a bit, and go nuts.

 

[d3n]

The old coal companies and company stores, or perhaps the use of coal fill dams.

 

[Horus]

Originally posted by: radioouman
Dupont's Teflon (perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA)

Can you elaborate? My dad is a senior Polymer Engineer at DuPont...only major problems I've heard have been DuPont pesticides causing damage to crops...could you PM me a link or more info? I wanna pick my dad's brain on it.

 

[ksaajasto]

George Bush in presidency? maybe???

 

[d3n]

I noticed that the Wiki disaster list seemed to be missing two of the more intresting disasters in my book.

Lake Nyros (not manmade) and Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom (manmade)

Edit: Fixed link

 

[newmachineoverlord]

blood diamonds

Automakers pushing heavy vehicles that rollover easily http://www.kenrockwell.com/auto/suv-safety.htm while running ads to perpetuate the myth that heavier vehicles are safer (they aren't)

Teflon kills birds under normal use, I doubt that it's harmless to people.

Coal industry is not responsible for funding health care for work related black lung disease, or the health effects of mercury pollution.

Uranium mining industry pushes nuclear power while misrepresenting costs and waste disposal issues.

Tobacco industry concealing knowledge of negative health effects, addictivity, running ad campaigns targeting minors.

Aspartame has been shown in peer reviewed journals to have negative health effects at higher dosages, but has been approved based on low dosage trials at which these effects were not apparent.

 

[everman]

Widespread use of asbestos.
Tobacco companies doing various things.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: newmachineoverlord
blood diamonds

Automakers pushing heavy vehicles that rollover easily http://www.kenrockwell.com/auto/suv-safety.htm while running ads to perpetuate the myth that heavier vehicles are safer (they aren't)

Teflon kills birds under normal use, I doubt that it's harmless to people.

Coal industry is not responsible for funding health care for work related black lung disease, or the health effects of mercury pollution.

Uranium mining industry pushes nuclear power while misrepresenting costs and waste disposal issues.

Tobacco industry concealing knowledge of negative health effects, addictivity, running ad campaigns targeting minors.

Aspartame has been shown in peer reviewed journals to have negative health effects at higher dosages, but has been approved based on low dosage trials at which these effects were not apparent.

Said studies arent use under normal circumstances. The pans have to be heated empty, to 400 degrees C before the chemicals breakdown letting off fumes. That certainly isnt normal use.

Also the POFA, the chemical in Teflon that is suspected to harm humans isnt used in the teflon used in the coating of pots and pans. Its only used in boots/gloves/coats.

 

[Motorheader]

How about Haiti - the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Here's a link for ideas:

Haiti in brief