Mr. Brock Way... First let me say that what you think I wrote was actually written by Phil Albro who has a great deal more experience than I do. And secondly this information came directly from The Association for Gravestone Studies. So that's all a bunch of hooey, this is all a hoax, and these people don't know what they're talking about?! http://www.gravestonestudies.org/images/frame/frame_01.gif Gloria (ALBRO) Silverman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brock Way" <brockway_32m@yahoo.com> To: <RIGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 10:39 AM Subject: [RIGENWEB] using shaving cream on tombstones > Considering the effects of shaving cream on > tombstones...do you really need an explanation from > someone who has his Ph.D. in organic chemistry, and > wrote a large section in his doctoral dissertation on > the interaction of carboxylic acids (like stearic acid > and the emollients in shaving cream) and other small > organic molecules and surface solids, such as one > might find on tombstones...and who studied geology > under Dr. Michael Engel, perhaps the world's foremost > organic acid geochemist? Okay, you asked for it: > > It is a hoax. > > The "shaving cream harms tombstones" hoax is the > *same* hoax as the "ban DHMO" hoax. You can read about > the "ban DHMO" hoax here: > > http://www.dhmo.org/ > > Here is what www.snopes.com (the popular online > mythbusting site) says about the DHMO hoax (in part): > > "That said, this example does aptly demonstrate the > kind of fallacious reasoning that's thrust at us every > day under the guise of "important information": how > with a little effort, even the most innocuous of > substances can be made to sound like a dangerous > threat to human life." > > Change "human life" to "tombstones", and you have a > very concise description of the "ban shaving cream > hoax. > > Gloria made this claim: > > "When you use shaving cream, the water in the tiny > cracks doesn't completely evaporate (dry), because the > emollients from the cream prevent it (that's > what emollients are for!)." > > Unfortunately, like many claims in the world of > genealogy, it is just that, a claim. Moreover, it is a > claim in error. Samples of tombstone materials which > had been slathered in shaving cream, rinsed, and then > analyzed by HPLC and GC/MS have shown that no > emollient/acid residue remains, and therefore, it > couldn't be having any effect at the surface (it can't > do anything if it is not there). > > Gloria also wrote: > > "The small amounts of fatty acids also tend to form a > crust over the moisture in the cracks, further > preventing evaporation." > > ..which is another claim that is refuted directly by > the scientific analysis. All the surface analyses show > there is NO RESIDUE, and every shaving cream > constituent has ALREADY been certified non-residual by > the formulation chemists at EcoSafe and elsewhere. > > This hoax is perpetuated only because people believe > the claims made without doing ANY investigation into > whether the claims made are true or not. Even a > cursory investigation into the claims made will reveal > that the claims are not just false, but demonstrably > so. > > Please take a look at the "Ban DHMO" hoax site, and > then look again at the shaving cream "information" and > you will see that it is the same hoax. That is why > both have spurious links to MSDS pages, both punctuate > their material with fear-engendering terms (like acid > rain), both include spurious links to > authoritative-sounding places, etc. The ban shaving > cream hoax was built on ban DHMO template, only > substituting "tombstone" for "human life" and "shaving > cream" for "DHMO". > > Brock Way > > "Gloria" <gjs11054@cox.net> wrote: > > First, forget about shaving cream. Using it is > equivalent, in my book, > to ripping the pages out of public phone books. You > got what you > wanted, and to .... with anyone else! Will shaving > cream hurt the stone? No, > Nature will hurt the stone. The shaving cream will > just make it easier > for Nature to do the job. Do you really need a > technical explanation, > for example from a chemist who minored in geology? > O.K., you asked for > it. Have you ever seen a rock cliff without rock chip > debris at the > bottom of it? I seriously doubt it. Breaking loose > chips from the surface > of rocks happens because water gets into all the > cracks and expands or > contracts with temperature. Eventually it breaks off > chips. This happens > just as easily, only the chips are tiny, with a > gravestone. When you > use shaving cream, the water in the tiny cracks > doesn't completely > evaporate (dry), because the emollients from the cream > prevent it (that's > what emollients are for!). The small amounts of fatty > acids also ten! > d to form a crust over the moisture in the cracks, > further preventing > evaporation. So the moisture is trapped there, > dutifully expanding and > contracting (or worst of all, freezing!) and breaking > off tiny chips > until the carvings have been blurred hopelessly. Was > that a "C", "O", "Q", > or "G" ? We'll never know. Can't you rinse the cream > all off? No, > because it's in the cracks! > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > ==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== > Kent County RIGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~rikent/ > Search the RIGenWeb Pages http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/search.html >