Evaluation of General Sources

 https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/putting-bpa-based-dental-fillings-perspective

Title: Putting BPA-based dental fillings in perspective

URL: The URL is https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/putting-bpa-based-dental-fillings-perspective. It ends in .org, meaning that this website is from an organization (in this case, a scientific one) that is focused on a particular matter and is credible.

Author: The author, Janet Raloff, has been working with ScienceNews for about thirty years, writing about occurrences in the world of science.

Last Updated: The posting date for the article is July 16, 2012, which is fairly recent but is still susceptible to being out-of-date. There are some links for her citations and links for more articles that she wrote relating to dental sealants, which are still active but require membership.

Purpose: The article is informing the readers about new research facts about BPA-based dental fillings and bis-GMA fillings, saying that analysis done on some children revealed a slight decrease in  IQ and in anger management.

Graphics: There are none.

Position on Subject: The author is presenting information that both shows what BPA-based fillings can cause and how it could affect groups of people. She seems to be taking somewhat of a stance toward the forbearance of dental fillings, overall. For the most part, the people worried about their children would benefit the most from the article, since it assures them that getting fillings, although it seems harmful, should be fine. The information may be verified if a person searches around enough.

Links: It does provide links to the doctors that she cited from and to her other articles about dental fillings. The doctors' links go to the Pediatrics magazine. 

Annotation: Raloff shares information that bis-GMA and its predecessor, BPA, has a detrimental, yet small effect on children that could translate into a worse problem if looked upon in a group setting. She bases most of her writing on the research and observations of others, specifically Dr. Nancy Maserejian, Philip Landrigan, Jeffrey Stansbury. Her paraphrases and quotes from the three people add credibility to her article and to the information in general. The main purpose of the article is to inform readers about some new side effects of BPA and bis-GMA on children, making readers more cautious about the fillings. I can use this article to present some of the negatives of using BPA sealants and even state, in the context of the article, that many doctors are still unsure whether to ordain the use of BPA sealants or not. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janice-horowitz/dueling-docs-are-dental-s_b_314729.html

Title: Dueling Docs: Are Dental Sealants Safe for Kids?

URL: The URL is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janice-horowitz/dueling-docs-are-dental-s_b_314729.html. It ends with .com, indicating that it is a company website and thus may require some slight degree of caution.

Author: Janice Horowitz was a former Time journalist and hosted (on radio) and wrote the Dueling Docs series.

Last Updated: The article was last updated on November 17, 2011, from an original posting date of March 18, 2010. The year gap is a good sign that the information was kept current while it was still in interest. The links lead more articles about BPA, sealants, and children. 

Purpose: The article provides a debate between two doctors: one that believes that children should get sealants, and another that believes in the opposite. It essentially lets the readers decide which side they should follow. 

Graphics: There are none.

Position on Subject: The article itself is taking an unbiased stand, leaving the two doctors to do the manipulating. If people believe the information presented in the article, they have the freedom to choose if they want their children to have sealants or not. One can look up the names of the doctors to find out more about them and their work.

Links: The links lead to more articles about dentistry, BPA, children, and even baby bottles. The article itself did not cite any sources but recognizes that it used information from two doctors.

Annotation: Horowitz structured her article to accommodate for the debate she was presenting. This is evident by the way she takes information from both supportive and non-supportive views on BPA sealants, sets up a contrast between the information, poses a question, and introduces the two debating doctors, including massive quotes from both of them to present both sides of the debate. This article's purpose was to inform people about both sides of the BPA debate, allowing them to make their own choices concerning dental sealants. I can use this article to draw credible insight from experts in the field, share some of the pros of BPA, and substantiate some cons of the compound.