People use chemicals every day. We use synthetic (man-made) and natural chemicals.
According to the BBC, my body is made up chemicals
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/the-making-of-me-and-you#/results/top
To stay alive, your body is full of toxic arsenic, mercury, radioactive uranium, and the precious metals of silver and gold. You also carry oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, chlorine, sodium, iron and formaldehyde.
It seems I am carrying $2,676 worth of chemical elements.
All the goods, products and food that we use everyday use and contain chemicals (both man-made and natural).
People may not like that idea, and many companies may not want you to know it, but you use chemicals every day.
The chemicals you use are both synthetic and natural. There is no difference in the toxicity of a substance if it comes from mother earth or from a factory.
Re-reading Vaclav Smil’s Making the Modern World – Materials and Dematerialization, you see that chemicals have been key to delivering the high quality of life many of us enjoy today.
They’ve been key to delivering many of the energy and life-saving technologies we depend on today. I owe my life to a toxic cocktail that can either save your life or kill you. It saved mine.
Chemicals use has accelerated dematerialization and saved an inordinate amount of natural resources.
If you are not sure where chemicals are used for used to make all materials of the modern era, here is a shortlist.
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- Toys
- Cosmetics
- Plastics
- Fuels
- Cars
- Planes
- Bikes
- Tires
- Batteries
- Military equipment
- Explosives
- Munitions
- Food packaging
- Food additives
- Food
- Packing
- Paper
- Cosmetics
- Perfumes
- Detergents
- Cigarettes
- Cigarette replacements
- Cleaning materials
- Plants seeds
- Pesticides
- Herbicides
- Biocides
- Fertilisers
- Water
- Water treatment
- Drinking-Water
- Bathing Water
- Medicine
- Medical devices
- Medical research
- Scientific research
- Pharmaceuticals
- Alcohol
- Narcotics
- Laboratories
- Electronics
- Electrical equipment
- Computers
- Industrial equipment
- Household equipment
- Paints
- Coatings
- Wood
- Furniture
- Construction material
- Insulation
- Animal Feed
- Recycling operations
- Decontamination operations
- Fire fighting equipment
- Protective equipment
- Testing equipment
When used safely, chemicals use is key to our modern life.