2011-09-17
Explanation
This comic tells the true story of Dr. Louise Reiss and the "Baby Tooth Survey" conducted in the 1960s. Concerned about the health effects of nuclear testing, Dr. Reiss collected hundreds of thousands of baby teeth from parents across the country. The results were alarming: strontium-90 concentration in children's teeth had increased by 50 times in the preceding decade, demonstrating that radioactive fallout from nuclear tests was being absorbed into children's bodies.
The comic explains that this research helped lead to the nuclear test ban treaty and a subsequent drop in atmospheric strontium levels. A politician in the comic announces that "in light of the recent... ahem radioactive baby teeth... we've decided to briefly take international policy seriously." The final panel delivers the satirical moral: "If you want to environmentally regulate something, all you have to do is spend ten years finding it in baby teeth." Two scientists discuss trying to convince Congress to do the right thing, when one suggests there might be "an easier way" -- implying they should just find the contaminant in baby teeth to trigger action.
The joke is a cynical but historically grounded observation about environmental policy: abstract data about pollution rarely motivates political action, but visceral evidence involving children (like radioactive baby teeth) can move even the most reluctant lawmakers. The comic celebrates Dr. Reiss's clever research strategy while lamenting that rational evidence alone is often insufficient to drive policy change.