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[RedKing]

The attitude seems to be "Because the vast majority aren't threatened by peanuts, it's just gonna have to suck for those do. They can drive."

I understand that from a cold, rational, cost-benefit analysis. But it already sucks for those with peanut allergies. The aforementioned friend doesn't go out to eat at restaurants. Like, EVER. Because wait staffs/kitchen cooks often don't distinguish well between "I don't want peanuts in my food, peanuts are icky" and "I don't want peanuts in my food, else I will do my best impression of a blowfish and die on your floor."

It's gotten better now because there's a better public awareness of the problem due to some high-profile fatalities (like the girl who died after her boyfriend gave her a kiss like 3 hours after he had eaten a PBJ). But it's still a fairly dangerous world for the highly-allergic.

[nenjin]

No, that's not the attitude at all. The attitude is "hrmm, that could be a problem. Let's actually learn is if it's more than a 1 in 1000 chance before we fly off the handle." And as you said, people are much more aware of the allergy than they used to be, namely because the case and other you mentioned got sensationalized, which had the plus of informing people...and the minus of inflaming others. I do believe, with our increasingly sensitive bodies and intolerances, that shit will happen. We should try to prevent shit from happening when possible, but you can't prevent all shit from happening. Is removing peanuts a reasonable step? Yeah, as long as it's an informed decision and not playing on the emotions of decision makers. And I'm sorry, despite the concern for others or children's well being, it's not an automatic go card.

[Leafsnail]

I'd certainly push to ban peanuts over a 1 in 1000 chance of causing death on a regular basis :/.

And sure, I have a life threatening allergy to peanuts.  I would like to take part in an experiment to see if exposure to peanuts on an airplane would kill me.

[sonerohi]

I still think allergies are bullshit. Not just peanuts, all of them. They wouldn't exist if all children had to be regularly exposed to some sort of filthy, natural inoculation pit.

[nenjin]

They wouldn't exist if all children had to be regularly exposed to some sort of filthy, natural inoculation pit.

I thought that was pre-school and kindergarten?

I would like to take part in an experiment to see if exposure to peanuts on an airplane would kill me.

By now there has to be some unified group dealing with congress. Write them and offer yourself up as a guinea pig.

[ChairmanPoo]

The hygiene theory of allergies/asthma does have some merit, but it doesn't necessarily follow that modern hygienic techniques should be dumped. After all, less "hygienic" countries might have lower allergy rates, but on the other hand, they have far more infectious diseases.

By the way, there's desensitization treatment for many allergens. (This is more viable than the "lets throw children into cesspools" idea)

[Nikov]

By the way, there's desensitization treatment for many allergens. (This is more viable than the "lets throw children into cesspools" idea)

Hey, cesspools worked for Sparta. Or was that cisterns?

[Jreengus]

Every time I see this thread I always think of the comic strip and wonder why it would be banned anywhere.

[Virex]

I'd certainly push to ban peanuts over a 1 in 1000 chance of causing death on a regular basis :/.

And sure, I have a life threatening allergy to peanuts.  I would like to take part in an experiment to see if exposure to peanuts on an airplane would kill me.

Well let's start with a simple question: ever had problems when someone opened a bag of peanuts close to you? If yes, then a ban would be in order. If no, then there's still the question what extended exposure does (I don't suppose you have been hanging over a slice of peanut-buttered bread for extended periods of time? )

[Leafsnail]

'Twas sarcasm - if you had a life threatening peanut allergy, would you want to participate in a study that could kill you?

[Cthulhu]

It would be difficult to do an experiment on this, yes, but that doesn't mean we should leap up and ban peanuts.  Latex allergy can also be fatal, and it's a very common allergy.  Should we ban latex too? 

[Leafsnail]

Is latex circulated in the air supply of a plane?

[nenjin]

I don't think it'd be that hard to test. You might not even need an actual allergy sufferer to do it.

Start with a known volume of space that has basic recycled air. Take a known quantity a peanut dust. Introduce it. Wait two hours. Then swab their skin, hair and near their nose, mouth and eyes, test the swab, measure the build up. Based on that, I think a doctor could say with relative confidence whether or not that would trigger an attack for people with severe allergies. You can mathematically expand the space, known quantity of allergen, and start introducing other things, and eventually extrapolate to an airplane environment.

[ChairmanPoo]

You can't make that good predictions. And even an allergy skin test carries the hazard of a systemic reaction.

[nenjin]

That's my point though. If a swab brings up 3 mm worth of dust on the skin, a professional could tell you that's enough to cause a skin rash in mildly allergenic people. And since you can approximate how much people breathe over x time, and figure out the ppm distribution of the particles, it wouldn't be that hard to say "yes, this plenty to cause an allergic reaction"....I think you could come up with evidence conclusive enough to convince Congress.

I mean, if CDC has models for this kind of stuff for highly infectious airborne diseases amid passenger freighters....I don't think it would be that big of a stretch to increase the particle size by 1000 and recalculate.