Chemie bez fobie - Bát se, nebo nebát chemických látek? – Kennedy James (2024)

Our ability to detect even the slightest trace of toxic substances in everyday products has been at such a level since the 1990s that nothing harmful escapes our notice, even if the concentration of that substance is just a few particles per billion. We capture everything harmful at a moment when it cannot yet cause any damage. Nevertheless, our lives are dominated by a fear of chemicals. We are afraid of even harmless things and prefer to buy "alternative," "natural," "organic" products "without chemicals" at exorbitant prices. Humans naturally lean towards nature because we feel good physically and mentally in it. However, this is sometimes exploited by marketing specialists who sell us goods labeled as natural that are not so different from the regular ones. This leads us to fear products that do not declare their "naturalness." And from there, it's just a small step to an overall fear of chemistry and chemical products, which is also exploited for commercial purposes. The expensive products we buy offer us almost nothing that a beneficial stay in nature – which is free – could not provide. James Kennedy's book, a British popularizer of chemistry, addresses the history of the fear of chemistry and convincingly shows,…