Chemical Stories
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sense about science making sense of chemical stories A guide for the lifestyle sector and anybody with questions about chemical stories The Disconnection Between Lifestyle Commentary and Chemical Realities Scientists are worried about the growing there are so many misconceptions that people disconnection between the lifestyle view of are often scared and anxious when they needn’t chemicals and the chemical realities of the be, and complacent when they shouldn’t be. world. So why is there such a disconnection between perception and reality? It seems partly to be the They are worried not just because people are result of intensive merchandising of ‘alternative’ likely to misunderstand what chemicals are products, lifestyle ideas and campaigns that and do, but because of the consequences for play on misconceptions about chemicals and decisions about lifestyle choices, family health about how the body works. It is also notable and social policies. that lifestyle commentators are excluded In lifestyle commentary, chemicals are presented from science-related briefings, and have few as something that can be avoided, or eliminated opportunities to make relevant scientific using special socks, soaps or diets, and that contacts. So, something needs to be done by the cause only harm to health and damage to the scientists in a way that is genuinely helpful to environment. The chemical realities of the people writing quick copy for a lifestyle audience. world, by contrast, are that everything is made This briefing document flags up the more serious of chemicals, that synthetic chemicals are often misconceptions that exist around chemicals much safer for human health than so-called and suggests straightforward ways for writers ‘natural’ ones, and that unfounded anxiety about and presenters in the lifestyle media to evaluate chemicals is encouraging people to buy into them. It is not a “here’s the science bit”; rather, ideas and ‘remedies’ that make little scientific or it is intended to open a conversation that medical sense. promotes a stronger connection between lifestyle Anxiety about chemicals is a big part of the commentary and chemical realities. discussion about lifestyle and modern living. The content is drawn from workshops and Lifestyle commentary – health, food, family, consultations with chemical scientists. The and environment – has grown enormously in document covers: the past ten years, with increased TV coverage, the expanding internet, and publications by • Six of the most prominent misconceptions retailers and producers swelling the ranks of • How to evaluate claims about chemicals, the magazine markets. In the daily papers too, particularly in relation to risks and cures lifestyle columns, supplements and advice fight news content for space. • Some specific information that may surprise non-specialists and challenge recent claims With this rise in lifestyle commentary, made about chemicals in our bodies misconceptions about what chemicals are and what they do have increased and spread. So • The language used to discuss chemicals much so, that the facts about chemicals seem • Who chemical scientists are and how to get surprising and counter-intuitive. Do people in touch with them know that nothing can be ‘chemical free’? How many know that ‘E-numbers’ simply denote We hope that this guide provides useful tools to approval for food use and include some essential delve a bit more into chemical-related stories vitamins? Did you know that your body functions and inspires new questions and commentary. in exactly the same way whether you follow a ‘detox’ regime or just a normal diet? Or that the Tracey Brown, idea of the ‘cocktail effect’ in relation to alcohol Director, Sense About Science is an urban myth? When it comes to chemicals, 2 Contents Misconception 1: You can lead a chemical-free life 4-5 The chemical reality is that you cannot lead a chemical-free life, because everything is made of chemicals. Chemicals are substances and chemistry is the science of substances – their structure, their properties and the reactions which change them into other substances. Claims that products are “chemical free” are untrue. There are no alternatives to chemicals, just choices about which chemicals to use and how they are made. Misconception 2: Man-made chemicals are inherently dangerous 6-7 The chemical reality is that whether a substance is manufactured by people, copied from nature, or extracted directly from nature, tells us nothing much at all about its properties. In terms of chemical safety, “industrial”, “synthetic”, “artificial” and “man-made” do not necessarily mean damaging and “natural” does not necessarily mean better. Misconception 3: Synthetic chemicals are causing many cancers and other diseases 8-9 The chemical reality is that many of the claims about chemicals being ‘linked’ to diseases simply tell us that a chemical was present when an effect occurred, rather than showing that the chemical causes the effect. Caution is needed in reporting apparent correlations: it is in the nature of scientific experiments that many disappear when a further test is done or they turn out to be explained in other ways. Misconception 4: Our exposure to a cocktail of chemicals is a ticking time-bomb 10-11 The chemical reality is that, although the language of “cocktails” and “time bombs” is alarming, neither the presence of chemicals nor the bioaccumulation of them, in themselves, mean that harm is being done. We have always been exposed to many different substances, because nature is a “cocktail of chemicals”. Modern technology enables us to detect minuscule amounts of substances, but the presence of such a small amount of a specific substance does not mean that it is having any discernible effect on us or on future generations. Misconception 5: It is beneficial to avoid man-made chemicals 12-13 The chemical reality is that, insofar as there is a ‘need’ for anything, synthesised and man-made chemicals have given societies choices beyond measure about what they are exposed to and the problems they can solve. Misconception 6: We are subjects in an unregulated, uncontrolled experiment 14 The chemical reality is that there is an extensive regulatory system that strictly controls what chemicals can be introduced: what experiments can take place, what can be used, for which purpose and how they should be transported, used and disposed of. Who are chemical scientists and how can you contact them? 15 senseaboutscience.org 3 Misconception 1: you can lead a chemical-free life The chemical reality is that you cannot lead a used to kill rats in Parisian sewers. ‘Scheele’s chemical-free life, because everything is made Green’ was used in wallpaper, with the drawback of chemicals. Chemicals are substances and that it was degraded by damp conditions to chemistry is the science of substances – their become trimethylarsine, which was believed to structure, properties and the reactions that cause arsenic poisoning in homes, but it has change them into other substances. Claims that since been proven otherwise. Chemicals used products are “chemical free” are untrue. There in hat-making gave off mercury nitrate dust, are no alternatives to chemicals, just choices causing muscle tremors (“hatters’shakes”), about which chemicals to use and how they are distorted vision and slurred speech - the first made. signs of mercury poisoning. Hence the origin of the phrase “mad as a hatter”. All these “Did you know that the average person has chemicals, and many more, are now carefully more than a trillion atoms of uranium in their monitored so that exposure to them should be body and that hundreds of these atoms are minimal or virtually non-existent. radioactively disintegrating every day? (It Everything is made of chemicals... but we usually sounds a lot but in weight terms it is truly refer to things by more familiar names. When tiny.) All is coming from a perfectly natural substances are described as chemicals, it can source: the food we eat. The uranium comes be alarming: from uranium that is naturally occurring in soil.” “If someone came into your house, mixed you a cocktail of unknown chemicals - and John Emsley, chemical scientist offered you a drink - would you take it? Of and author of Nature’s Building Blocks course not. You wouldn’t want untested Chemicals affect us less than they did our chemicals in your home, your drink, or grandparents. The Royal Sanitary Commission your body. You don’t want them - but of 1871 noted that the water in Bradford Canal shockingly - they’re already there.” was so dirty a dropped lamp could set it alight. Chemicals out of Control section, Clearly we have come a long way in terms of Greenpeace International website our understanding and control of pollution. Chemical scientists have been at the forefront of But...“If someone came into your house identifying problems and innovating responses and offered you a cocktail of butanol, iso to them. We are often told that we face an amyl alcohol, hexanol, phenyl ethanol, unprecedented, new threat from the chemicals tannin, benzyl alcohol, caffeine, geraniol, in our environment. In fact, unlike today, in quercetin, 3-galloyl epicatchin, 3-galloyl former times poisonous chemicals surrounded epigallocatchin and inorganic salts, would the population, unrecognised and unregulated. you take it? It sounds pretty ghastly. If The Romans used various compounds of lead in instead you were offered a cup of tea, you drinking vessels, water pipes, cosmetics, coins, would probably take it.