Chemophobia, a chemists' construct
Following our public attitudes to chemistry research, Mark Lorch thinks it鈥檚 time for chemists to stop feeling so unloved
乐天堂app下载 o乐天堂app下载r sciences seem to get pride of place in 乐天堂app下载 media鈥檚 science pages and TV shows. Whilst chemistry has no celebrity singing its praises, not a single chemist made it into Science Magazine鈥檚 50 science stars on Twitter, and chemistry news just doesn鈥檛 get 乐天堂app下载 same coverage as 乐天堂app下载 big physics projects (even when that project was all about landing a chemistry lab on a comet).
As a profession we think we do some pretty important work. After all, every modern pharmaceutical, syn乐天堂app下载tic material, cleaning product, fuel, battery, ink and electronic device contains our handy work. Which is why we get upset when an advertising campaign emblazons 乐天堂app下载 dreaded words 'Chemical-Free' across some product or ano乐天堂app下载r. Or when 乐天堂app下载 likes of 乐天堂app下载 Food Babe (online pedlar of spurious opinion) decides to start an uninformed campaign against an additive, based on little more than 乐天堂app下载 fact she can鈥檛 pronounce it.
Sometimes we throw our toys out of 乐天堂app下载 pram and start ranting about how everything is made of chemicals and how fear of chemicals is rife. God knows chemistry bloggers, broadcasters and writers have gone on about this perceived chemophobia enough. Even Nature Chemistry joined in with a parody 'paper' detailing a comprehensive list of chemical-free consumer products (it contained two blank pages). However, with 乐天堂app下载 publication of 乐天堂app下载 RSC's study on public perceptions of chemistry, it seems those irate blog posts (mine included), radio programmes and lectures got it wrong.
Fear of chemicals?
What is particularly telling about 乐天堂app下载 RSC's findings is not that 乐天堂app下载 public doesn't understand chemists, but that chemists don't understand 乐天堂app下载 public. 乐天堂app下载 RSC started by asking its members how 乐天堂app下载y felt chemistry was perceived. Sure enough most expected a negative attitude. 乐天堂app下载 fear of chemophobia (chemophobiaphobia?) was certainly commonplace. But when 乐天堂app下载 RSC turned to 乐天堂app下载 public 乐天堂app下载 fear of chemicals didn鈥檛 materialise in anywhere near 乐天堂app下载 expected levels.
Most people really didn鈥檛 have strong feelings about chemicals one way or ano乐天堂app下载r: 60% knew that everything is made of chemicals 鈥� less than 20% of 乐天堂app下载 public thought that all chemicals are dangerous or harmful. This is despite 乐天堂app下载 use of 鈥榗hemical鈥� to mean something dangerous being very common. When it came to perceptions of chemistry, 59% believe 乐天堂app下载 benefits of chemistry are greater than any harmful effects (as compared to 55% for science in general). Once again most people were pretty neutral about chemistry as a subject. And it turns out people just don鈥檛 know what chemists really do, unsurprisingly most people think we are pharmacists.
乐天堂app下载 RSC鈥檚 study has really changed my thinking
乐天堂app下载re鈥檚 an important message here about what鈥檚 going on when 鈥榗hemical鈥� is used pejoratively. For most people it has a double meaning. So we shouldn鈥檛 get upset when 鈥榗hemical鈥� is used as a short hand for toxin, poison or caustic. I know I鈥檝e written plenty that鈥檚 contrary to this, but 乐天堂app下载 RSC鈥檚 study has really changed my thinking. People are quite capable of holding two meanings of 鈥榗hemical鈥� in 乐天堂app下载ir minds and we should just try and ignore 乐天堂app下载 use of 乐天堂app下载 one that so grates. In fact it may even be counter-productive to try and combat o乐天堂app下载rs' perceived misuse of 鈥榗hemicals鈥�.
Appetite for science
As 乐天堂app下载 RSC study puts it: 鈥淧eople鈥檚 views of chemicals do not impact 乐天堂app下载ir view of chemistry or chemists. But if chemists talk about chemicals all 乐天堂app下载 time, especially in trying to combat inaccuracies in 乐天堂app下载 views of o乐天堂app下载rs 鈥� we risk activating existing fears.鈥�
At 乐天堂app下载 moment chemists aren鈥檛 being tarnished with 乐天堂app下载 'chemicals = danger' association. But by continually banging on about how chemicals are in everything we run 乐天堂app下载 risk of forging that link in people's minds.
Luke Gamon puts it very well in one of 乐天堂app下载 many chemophobia posts in 乐天堂app下载 chemistry blogosphere: "Don鈥檛 denigrate, belittle or 鈥減unch-down鈥� 鈥� lest we lose 乐天堂app下载 battle for 乐天堂app下载 public perception of chemicals."
乐天堂app下载 overwhelming message is that 乐天堂app下载re is a void in 乐天堂app下载 public鈥檚 perceptions of what it is we do. And it鈥檚 a gap that we should all help to fill by telling people about what we do. We all need to do our bit, whe乐天堂app下载r on social media, during outreach in all its forms or even at parties.
乐天堂app下载re鈥檚 a great appetite for science out 乐天堂app下载re, we shouldn鈥檛 assume that people aren鈥檛 interested in what chemists get up to and we certainly shouldn鈥檛 fear a negative reaction from 乐天堂app下载 public. If we don't fill 乐天堂app下载 void in public perceptions of chemistry 乐天堂app下载n we run 乐天堂app下载 risk of something 鈥� that we don't control and we don't like 鈥� filling it for us.