Pearl Powder Vs. Caco3

[freeztar]

A few colleagues of mine have been purchasing Chinese "pearl powder". When I remarked that it is basically calcium carbonate, I got widespread disvowment.

 

How can I convince these people that ground up pearl is the same as CaCO3?

[JMJones0424]

To be honest, I'm not sure that you can. I've tried for years to convince my sister that her practice of ear candling is not just useless, but could possibly be detrimental. I've come to realize that at times people don't act rationally. And if you don't actively try to be rational, beliefs can easily override evidence. You'll have to evaluate the situation yourself, but sometimes it appears to me to be best to just let others have their irrationalities if the harm isn't significant. If someone I knew claimed that ground oyster shell cured cancer, I would vehemently resist the claim. If someone claimed ground pearls reduced wrinkles, I'd lay out the scientific evidence against the claim and then leave it be, as the continued confrontation isn't worth it beyond that.

[freeztar]

I agree with letting it go if there is no significant harm from the irrationality, but there is still a financial burden and they have talked my wife into getting the pearl powder so it's eating into our money (not anything major, but still).

 

I'm actually not even sure if CaCO3 has any affect of skin. Perhaps it does, but my main point to these people was that you can purchase CaCO3 a lot cheaper than imported pearl powder from China. Chalk is also CaCO3 and it defintely feels soft when rubbed on the skin, but this is obviously more of a result of the powder being very fine (small grain size). But maybe I'm missing something.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I just did some quick searching through the "literature" and I can't really find anything to suggest that CaCO3 has any benefit to the skin, although it looks like it can be used to treat IBS in addition to its use as an antacid.

[JMJones0424]

Well, this changes matters significantly. I don't know your wife, but I am familiar with people who get taken in with charlatans that sell goods that they either know or should know to be no more effective than a placebo. Communication is ideal here. I gave up on convincing my sister that earcandling was worthless, but after time, she stopped simply because it didn't work.

 

Again, you'll have to be the arbiter of how worthwhile the cause is, but perhaps you can develop your own relatively scientific study of the effectiveness over a.)ground oyster shells, b.) ground limestone, and c.) some placebo, say for instance potter's clay. A quality mortar and pestle isn't too terribly expensive, about 20 bucks after shipping. You'll have to let her know that she's the test subject, and she'll have to agree to it, and you'll have to design an experiment with some sort of testable results that are agreed upon up front. Not that you would, but deception isn't at all the way to go here. Let her know how much this means to you. Clearly, she sees some benefit in the product, so it's in her best interest to ensure that the product is effective.

 

Double blind would be awesome, but given the circumstances, just keeping her from knowing what substance is being applied may be the best you can achieve. Make this a process you both go through, rather than trying to assert your superior reasoning.

 

Then again, I'm not married, and I have never been married, so take my advice with an appropriate grain of salt.

Edited November 6, 2013 by JMJones0424