What is chemophobia and how it can be dangerous

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The fear of chemicals drives us to buy counterfeit products, interferes with treatment, and slows down the development of technology.

What is Hemophobia

Hemophobia is an irrational fear caused by chemistry. Strictly speaking, any substance is continuous chemistry, because everything in the world consists of compounds of atoms, including ourselves. However, chemophobia presupposes a fear of products obtained by means of artificial synthesis, and in a broader sense, of anything unnatural.

Unlike phobias such as fear of heights or snakes, this is not only a personal neurosis, but also a social phenomenon that can become a public mood.

The sustainability boom began in the West in the late 60s and early 70s. At this time, environmentalism was born there - an ideology aimed at protecting the environment. Many became interested in the culture of peoples close to nature. Large conservation organizations emerged (for example, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace), and society began to think more about how to properly dispose of garbage, reduce waste and respect animal rights.

On the one hand, all this has led to an increase in environmental awareness, which, among other things, allows us to maintain nature with the help of technology. On the other hand, all ideas have their extremes and some have come to believe that the chemical industry, by definition, is not doing anything good.

In its sharpest forms, fear of it leads to a complete rejection of all materials and drugs created in laboratories, so that even the authority of scientists and the results of clinical trials do not seem convincing.

Why does a chemical have a bad reputation and a natural one - a good one?

There were situations when chemistry brought serious harm

The fear of chemicals has a historical basis. In the past, when modern standards were not established, and people did not fully understand the possible risks associated with certain drugs, and used them carelessly, some developments turned out to be very dangerous.

For example, the insecticide DDT, also known as dust, has been able to reduce deaths from malaria, typhoid, and visceral leishmaniasis (tropical fever) around the world by eliminating insect vectors. In India alone, 3 million people died from malaria in 1948, and not a single one in 1965. The use of pesticides led to explosive growth in agriculture in developing countries in the 1940s and 1970s. This phenomenon is called the "green revolution".

"Dizzy with success" was the reason for the violation of safety standards. DDT was used literally everywhere - from premises to crops - forgetting to defend themselves. However, exceeding the permissible concentration is dangerous to humans and leads to poisoning.

Environmental organizations and individual authors spoke out against the use of dust, noting, in particular, that in nature the substance does not disintegrate, but accumulates in the organisms of living beings. As a result, the use of DDT began to decline and today it is banned in many countries.

A sad story also came out with thalidomide, a sedative (sedative) drug that in the 50s was especially recommended for taking during pregnancy to solve problems with anxiety and insomnia.

At the same time, no studies have been conducted on how the drug can affect the development of the fetus. As a result, the “thalidomide tragedy” happened - many children whose mothers were taking medicine were born with physical deformities. It turned out that the drug has a teratogenic effect, that is, it disrupts intrauterine development.

Thalidomide was withdrawn from the market, and lawsuits began in many countries against the manufacturer. As a result, these events forced many states to reconsider the methods of testing and licensing drugs.

Thalidomide's sedation was not at all worth the dire consequences. At the same time, it has been proven useful in the treatment of leprosy, myeloma and other cancers. Although the WHO recommends limiting its use due to possible abuse.

Also in the twentieth century, there were several major man-made disasters at chemical plants - in the Indian city of Bhopal and in the Italian city of Seveso. In both cases, poisonous vapors were released into the atmosphere due to the accident. According to some experts, these tragic events eroded public confidence in the industry, sparking chemophobic sentiments.

Nevertheless, to deny the entire chemical industry because of cases condemned by the professional community is the same as abandoning medicine because of the mistakes of doctors of the past. Thus, thalidomide is not evil in itself, but irresponsibility or malicious intent can make it very dangerous to health. You cannot forget about tragedies, because it is thanks to them that you can better plan your defense against bad scenarios.

The myth of the golden age is one of the most enduring

It seems like people have always thought that things were better before. The exclamation "Where is the world heading?" as old as this very world. Even ancient philosophers complained about young people, and in the Middle Ages, any innovations were condemned, because they seemed sinful. At the heart of the belief that once everything was right, but from some point on things went wrong, lies the idea of a golden age, which is in many cultures.

"In the past, tribes of people lived on Earth, not knowing the grievous sorrows, not knowing either hard work or harmful diseases that bring death to mortals," Hesiod wrote in the poem "Works and Days". About the same is told in the Bible: before, people lived in the Garden of Eden, in peace with nature, but because of their curiosity they were expelled to Earth, where danger lurks everywhere.

These ideas are based on the idea of utopia - an ideal world where everything is fine. Often utopian images of the past are associated precisely with naturalness, the absence of conflict between a person and the world around him. This means that creators, researchers and other "sorcerers-scientists" make the same mistake as Faust - they boldly try to comprehend the secrets of the universe. And they will be punished for it.

In practice, the myth of the golden age often leads to the fact that the real achievements of science are underestimated, and innovations are looked at with distrust, guided by the principle “whatever happens”. At the same time, they forget about the main thing: in order to avoid unpleasant consequences, just more knowledge is needed.

What makes you afraid of chemistry

Emotions and mythological thinking

When it comes to the benefits of the natural, the facts are often replaced by emotions. The fear of chemistry is abstract. That is, it is usually not supported by facts and research: chemistry is bad because it is "sinful." Such twists and turns of thinking belong to mythological concepts and are characteristic of many people. Even despite the fact that today a lot of things can be checked by weighing all the pros and cons.

It is likely that chemophobia is also associated with risk psychology. When people take responsibility for the consequences (even if they are scientists, qualified specialists), trust in them turns out to be lower than in the case when nature is responsible for everything. She is perceived as a powerful, almost divine force.

However, nature is not interested in the well-being of specific individuals or even communities. Often it is based on the principle of acceptability of losses. In the course of the evolution of species, only the fittest survive, and in many animals the broods of cubs are very large because a significant part of them are doomed to death.

Cognitive biases

Errors in the logic of thinking are very diverse. Here are some of the cognitive biases that are especially common in people who are afraid of anything unnatural:

• A naturalistic error or an appeal to nature is the tendency to ascribe positive qualities to all natural phenomena, and negative qualities to artificial and technogenic ones. It is because of this that statements like "N is bad because it is unnatural" appear. However, it takes arguments to declare something harmful or dangerous.
• Catastrophization is a situation in which a person assumes the worst, a tendency to see the most negative outcome of events. Any interaction with a chemical appears to be fatal, even if nothing terrible actually happens.
• The tendency to confirm their point of view - in the case of chemophobia, the interpretation of the facts confirming the safety of artificially produced products suffers. People think that information that contradicts their point of view should be discredited. This is how conspiracy theories about killer doctors and that "scientists are hiding something" are obtained.

Why "natural" is not equal to "good"

Not everything natural is useful

Despite the positive connotations that the words "natural", "natural" and "organic" have, there are many substances of natural origin that are harmful to humans. Poisonous plants and mushrooms, animals whose bites are dangerous - all this is the very nature. And no one wants to face such manifestations of it. Naturally occurring poisons are called toxins. In addition to animals and plants, they are produced by bacteria, viruses, as well as tumor cells inside the body, in which there is a process of atypical tissue development.

The completely natural substances that occur in nature include, in particular, carcinogenic arsenic, a poisonous heavy metal, mercury and formaldehyde, a toxic irritant (causing irritation).

Thus, not only what is synthesized in laboratories can kill us.

It is organic matter that is likely to be an allergen, while hypoallergenic products are created artificially, with a special expectation not to cause immunopathological processes. The production of medicines and cosmetics from herbal extracts is poorly regulated, which means that it is difficult to assess their safety.

Medicine in a spoon, poison in a cup

This is a case where conventional wisdom is worth listening to. Even if the natural substance itself is not toxic, it can become dangerous in large quantities. In the same way, any medicine in doses exceeding therapeutic ones will not bring additional benefits, and may even harm.

By the way, that's why you shouldn't get carried away with trendy superfoods. The hope for a magic pill that will change life for the better at once is understandable. However, a stable diet consisting of familiar healthy foods will bring much more benefit. But exotic equivalents in large quantities can cause allergic reactions or digestive disorders.

What can chemophobia lead to?

Decline in technological and economic growth

Chemobophia is becoming a popular neurosis today. A study by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) says that as its rise in the public, people are becoming increasingly anxious. Moreover, even if the chemicals that are present in their body or the environment have negligible concentrations or are completely safe.

The abstract fear of all things chemical leads to very specific consequences for science and economics. Due to unfounded fears, the production of goods that were created with the help of the latest developments is falling. And the authorities, in response to public concerns, pass laws that harm technological development, which negatively affects society as a whole.

A close relative of chemophobia is the fear of biotechnology, which has led to the adoption in a number of countries of bans on the production of GMO products. And this is despite the fact that the danger of GMOs has not been proven, and the use of genetically modified crops and animals could solve the problem of hunger on the planet.

Purchases from unscrupulous sellers

Not all products that are positioned as natural are really such. Due to the widespread fashion for organic and "natural", many marketers create an attractive "natural" image for products, although in reality they contain many artificial substances.

The situation when goods that are harmful to the environment pretend to be "green" is called greenwashing. And there is no point in overpaying for a product in craft packaging or with the inscription "bio" if its composition is no different from conventional products. And all environmental friendliness consists in the positioning and the desire of companies to cash in on someone else's chemophobia.

Plus, as discussed above, not all foods that are truly organic are harmless. Manufacturers may advise using their products as much as possible and literally for everything, but you shouldn't overdo it.

For example, natural oils that are used as cosmetics are very comedogenic, that is, they clog the pores. And the trendy coconut oil, which many people use for cooking, has twice the saturated fat of lard. It can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease.

Health problems and spread of disease

The most desperate supporters of a natural lifestyle refuse treatment with artificially produced drugs, preferring "herbs". Of course, there are complex cases in which even today's medicine has little to offer. However, in situations where help is possible, serious illnesses require serious treatment with modern medicines.

Ideologically, drug chemophobia is associated with the fear of vaccinations, the refusal of which can not only harm individuals, but also reduce the collective immunity of the population.

What is the bottom line

Like any irrational fear, chemophobia relies on feelings, not facts. Meanwhile, over the millennia of human activity, a lot of unnatural things have accumulated around us. Let's say all of our crops and pets do not exist in the wild as they have been created through selection over the past 10,000 years.

According to toxicologists, even far from specific areas of high concentration, many unwanted chemicals enter our bodies. Asbestos accumulates in the lungs, dioxins in the blood. However, it is the concentration that is important: there are so few of these substances that we were able to detect them only thanks to the achievements of analytical chemistry.

It is in laboratories under the supervision of scientists that substances are created that pass the most stringent tests. Nevertheless, their incorrect use can lead to big problems - only information can save from this. If once there was no one to tell the consumer about the product, except for the seller or the local doctor, now everyone can find data on the compositions and effects, which means they can make their own choice.