If there were ever a guide to help put to bed the all-too-common myths about chemicals in our daily lives, this might just be it. Making Sense of Chemical Stories, re-published in May by Sense About Science with support from the Royal Society of Chemistry, culls from the opinion of nearly two dozen independent scientists. And they all seem to agree on three important points: chemistry is part of our everyday life – and an important one at that; myths about chemistry’s impact on health and the environment are overblown; and that a “fear itself” of chemicals could have a more adverse impact on society than a single alleged substance, natural or man-made, present in amounts that are sometimes no greater than a grain of sugar in an Olympic swimming pool.
