The email arrived two years ago on the desk of university employee Chris Mertens, who works in the finance office of the electro-technical department. In the mail, which claimed to come from a hospital in the Netherlands, a link was suggested between breast cancer and the use of deodorant.
Mertens forwarded the mail to “no more than six or seven” friends. Before he knew it, the email had been forwarded to others – now carrying the electronic email signature of Leuven University as well as Mertens’ name.
“For about a year and a half, I’ve been getting about 20 emails a day from people who want to have their say on the subject,” Mertens complained. “Some want to know which deodorant they can buy, and some are outright aggressive. I’m not a scientist. I can’t speak on the subject of a possible link. I sent that email out because it was an interesting subject, and it gave food for thought.”
Mertens and the university have now filed a complaint to try to stop the flood of emails. But the chances of success are slim since the subject has now attained international proportions. “Today I got a reaction in from Canada,” Mertens said last week. “That says something about the reach of a chain letter, doesn’t it?”
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