Often times we hear the word "chemical" and immediately assume that whatever is being discussed is dangerous and unhealthy. We associate chemicals with causing cancer, disease, and overall bad health. Therefore, we emphasizing using only what is natural. Yet, many people fail to realize that water, air, and nature foods are also made up of chemicals. We focus on the negatives of chemical weapons and ignore the benefits of chemicals like vitamin C. I think it is really interesting that how we talk about and understand chemicals is much different than how scientists view them. The author defines chemicals as “something that is made up of chemical elements or something created from a chemical process.” This definition increases the number of things we classify as chemicals and, proportionally, decreases the number of chemicals that are actually harmful to us. The most common chemical that we face on a regular basis without realizing is caffeine, a chemically naturally made by plants. The issue is not actually the danger of chemicals, but our misconception of what they are and what they do. I thought this article was really eye opening because I always associate chemicals with being bad for one’s health. I was always told not to eat or drink anything with chemicals or to breathe in chemicals. But what no one ever mentions is that not all chemicals are bad, and actually many are natural and essential for life. The stigma around chemicals is causing people to avoid modern medicine or only purchase “chemical free” products, which may lead to more harm than good. In addition, many alternatives to what we consider chemicals, contain different chemicals. Therefore, the issue at hand is the way we portray chemicals and is important to shift the view from all chemicals are bad, to understanding what chemicals perform what functions and how this impacts us.
Submitted by Melissa Hoey
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