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Please don't merge - The use of tributyltin gets into the larger questions of marine coatings, preservation of acquatic ecosystems, and the environmental impact of the shipping industry. The use of tin in the canning process involves the food industry and people. So far, people are doing much better eating canned food than marine organisms do munching on crumbling ship bottom paint.
Adding the short section about tin and people to the more serious concerns regarding TBT and marine life has the potential to confuse people who are reading quickly; these two types of tin raise entirely different sorts of concerns. I think the articles should be kept separate. Djembayz (talk) 21:19, 9 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the advice. Here's the deal, (i) there basically is no "tin poisoning" (most Sn compounds are not very toxic), (ii) almost all toxicity associated with Sn is due to Bu3Sn and related materials, (iii) there are no such compounds as tributyltin - it is some sort of jargon. We will not remove non-duplicated information and one term will "redirect" to the other, so readers searching for jargon (tributyl tin) will get to the same place. The merged article will provide more integrated information that will better help toxicologists, environmentalists, and general readers.--Smokefoot (talk) 12:58, 10 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with Djembayz and oppose the merge. The information about substances is better handled in articles separate from information about the conditions caused by those substances. --Arcadian (talk) 17:51, 10 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Got it. Since the page is probably not checked by many editors, I figure two dissenters is enough to end the proposal to merge. Thanks to both Arcadian and Djembayz for helping out. --Smokefoot (talk) 04:42, 11 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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