Its not the chemicals – Its the knowledge Gap

Science illiteracy and the rise of Chemophobia

Chemophobia is the irrational fear of chemicals which leads people to believe chemicals are

harmful at any level.

Stereotypical outcomes of chemophobia are the general public fearing ingredients they cannot

pronounce, only wanting “natural ingredients”, or avoiding vaccines and other proven health

benefits due to lack of understanding. 30% of individuals report being scared of chemicals,

and nearly all demonstrate a lack of basic scientific understanding proving the clear link between chemical illiteracy and chemophobia. But chemicals are all around us.

The smartphones in our pockets, medicines we take, food we preserve and everyday products

all depend on synthetic chemistry. But Chemophobia isn't really about chemicals, It's about

how gaps in scientific literacy shapes public perception. 

Science literacy, particularly chemical literacy, remains low across much of the public. Only 28% of Americans are considered to have civic scientific literacy, and 44% of Europeans want to “live in a world where chemical substances don't exist”. This demonstrates a clear knowledge gap between scientists and the general public. With many people unable to explain basic concepts such as: toxicity, dose and the difference between hazard and risk; the opportunity for misinformation, fear-based marketing, and distorted risk perception becomes significantly greater. When individuals feel uninformed, they naturally rely on educated guesses, or heuristics, to make decisions. While these heuristics may work in everyday life, when applied to chemical substances many people make biased decisions. 

One of the most powerful assumptions is that “natural’” equates to safety, while “synthetic” products are dangerous or toxic. This is usually because “natural” evokes positive feelings such as purity, health and environment. In contrast, “chemicals” often trigger images of toxins, or pollution. But under scientific scrutiny, this distinction collapses. For example, people without scientific background fall susceptible to biased risk perception of cleaning products labeled as “eco”. Many individuals believe that eco drain cleaners are healthier and safer than regular drain cleaners when both products contain very similar ingredients and the same warning labels highlighting the perception of safety being more important than facts. From a toxicological perspective, the origin of a substance tells little about its safety and what matters is its dose, exposure, and biological interaction, not whether something came from a laboratory or a leaf. 

Additionally, it is widely believed that trace amounts of a substance perceived as harmful can lead people to judge a product as wholly dangerous. 91% of the survey did not realize that the concept of “toxicity” means the dose makes the poison for everything, regardless of the source and identity of a chemical and fewer than a quarter of survey respondents correctly agreed that a small amount of a toxic substance is not necessarily harmful. This stands in contrast to the foundational principle of toxicology that “the dose makes the poison” where even something as “safe” as bananas can become “poisonous” if you eat too much of them. 

Chemophobia, while driven from lack of scientific knowledge, has public consequences. The rise of the anti-vaccine movement, increase in cost of “natural” products and the increased spread of misinformation and fear about everyday products are all consequences of the rise of chemophobia. But evidence suggests that basic scientific understanding reduces extreme fear of chemicals. People who understand dose response relationships and recognize that “natural” and “synthetic” are not safety categories tend to show lower levels of chemophobia. Furthermore, education does not eliminate chemical concerns but refines it. 

To improve scientific literacy, science education should be strengthened at every level and public communication about risk, uncertainty and regulation in a digestible way for the public should be improved. The Royal Society of Chemistry reports that 58% of women and 45% of men not feeling confident enough to talk about chemistry demonstrating a systemic issue in the scientific knowledge gap rather than individual disinterest. If large portions of the public feel unequipped to engage in conversations about chemistry topics, it creates ground for misinformation, and fear-based narratives increasing the chances of chemophobia. The education of students about toxicological principles, especially the difference between hazard and risk as well as synthetic vs natural would help improve perceptions and eradicate chemophobia. 

Reference:

Siegrist, M., Bearth, A. Chemophobia in Europe and reasons for biased risk perceptions.

Nat. Chem. 11, 1071–1072 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0377-8

Image:

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