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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014
European Fireball recall little threat in U.S.
RILEY MORTENSEN
@RileyMortensen
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGE MULLIND
After reports of the European Fireball whiskey recall, many believed that the North American version of the whiskey contained higher amounts of propylene glycol, an ingredient found in antifreeze. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the chemical has been deemed safe for consumption since 1973.
The European Fireball whiskey recall sent social media spheres into a frenzy just over two weeks ago after reports that the North American version had been sent on accident and contained higher levels of propylene glycol, an ingredient commonly found in antifreeze, than Scandinavian countries allow.
Propylene glycol had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1973, according to the FDA's access data website, and deemed safe for consumption; however, Finland, Sweden and Norway say the European Fireball whiskey contains higher percentages of the chemical than European regulations allow.
Tama Sawyer, the director of Poison Control Center at the University of Kansas Hospital, said ingestion of propylene glycol is almost non-toxic.
"It's used in medicines all the time," Sawyer said. "Worst case, if you're drinking straight propylene glycol, which you're not going to drink, it could cause some diarrhea."
Sawyer said she is unsure why Norway, Sweden and Finland would ban the drink.
"The alcohol is probably the deadliest thing in the drink, and everybody's fully aware that it contains alcohol," Sawyer said.
Jakob Langberg Vingren, an associate professor at the University of North Texas, said this is simply a case where the cut-off limit in Europe is much lower than that of the U.S.
athletic performance. He was also born and raised in Denmark, one of the other Scandinavian countries.
Vingren said there are many other cases of food and drink that aren't allowed into Europe, but are permitted in the U.S.
Vingren's research interests include the effects of alcohol on hormones, muscles and
— for example, genetically modified foods.
"They're just much more, lets call it conservative in
their approach to food in that you really have to show that something is safe where the U.S. might be a little bit more
that you have to show that it's not safe," Vingren said.
Edited by Emily Brown
Dangling window washers rescued from World Trade Center
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A firefighter looks out an opening cut into a glass window at 1 World Trade Center after rescuing two workers from their collapsed scaffold in New York on Wednesday.
NEW YORK - Two window washers were trapped on a dangling scaffold nearly 70 stories up the new 1 World Trade Center tower for nearly two hours on Wednesday before firefighters sawed through a thick double-paned window to reach them.
The dramatic rescue, coming a little more than a week after the nation's tallest building officially opened, was followed by throngs of New Yorkers on the ground and many more around the world watching on live TV.
World Trade Center.
It was unclear whether the scaffold had been used on the 1,776-foot, 104-story skyscraper before or whether anything about the building's design complicates working a scaffold there. Officials stressed that firefighters had trained for various emergencies at the tower, the centerpiece of the rebuilt
The window washers, Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, were working on the lower Manhattan building's south side at around 12:40 p.m. when one of the platform's four cables abruptly developed slack, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The opentopped platform tilted sharply and swayed slightly in the wind between the 68th and 69th floors, he said.
"It suddenly went from horizontal to nearly vertical," he said.
Indeed, a fire department photo shot from inside the building shows the scaffold platform hanging precipitously, with the Statue of Liberty appearing tiny in the distance.
Officials haven't determined what caused the cable problem. The cables are controlled from the scaffold vehicle, the fire commissioner said.
About 100 firefighters rushed to the skyscraper, some of them lowering ropes from the roof so the workers could secure themselves and a two-way radio for them to communicate, Nigro said. The workers also were harnessed to the platform.
Firefighters first used diamond cutters to saw through part of a two-layered, inch-thick glass window on the 68th floor, which is still under construction. They shattered the thick glass in place, then carefully pulled the broken pieces into the building.
Firefighters also began inching another scaffold down the building as a backup rescue plan, but they were able to bring the workers to safety through the roughly 4-by-8-foot window hole by 2:30 p.m.
"It was a fairly straightforward operation," said Battalion Chief Joseph Jardin, who oversees the
fire department's special operations.
Mayor Bill de Blasio praised rescuers for "great coordination."
Firefighters generally seek
to cut out windows to make such rescues, but Nigro noted the trade center's thick glass: a double-paned inner layer and an outer pane.
"And, of course, they were
68 stories up," he said. "That presented a little bit more of a challenge."
Lizama and Lopez were checked out at a hospital and were released.
Their union, Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, said it makes sure workers follow rigorous safety protocols.
"Workers are offered the training they need to be safe every day and in the event of an accident," President Hector Figueroa said in a statement.
During the rescue, people on the ground were moved back in case glass began flying. Office workers and construction workers streamed onto a nearby street, their necks craning to watch the scaffold as it waved in the wind.
"It's horrific," insurance worker Lisa Cogliano said.
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS UNIVERSITY THEATRE PRESENTS
Byron T. Shutz Award Lecture Jide Wintoki
The Effect of Corporate Governance and Legal Institutions on the Value of Companies in the U.S. and Around the World
November 13 at 3:30pm Reception follows The Commons, Spooner Hall 785-864-4932