8 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About 'Scary' Chemicals

This just isn’t true, even for quite experienced chemists. If it were, there would be no need for hazard sheets to be sent out with chemicals.

The thing is, while chemistry naming systems follow patterns (sometimes, anyway), the way the human body deals with substances can be dramatically different if you change just a few atoms.

Take ethanol and methanol, for example. Their names differ only by one letter. The formulas differ only by a carbon and a few hydrogen atoms. But drink a small amount of the former and you become mildly intoxicated, drink the latter and you might well end up blind. Of course, we know that now, but it was only discovered by trial and error. Next time you’re enjoying a vodka and tonic, remember to say a quiet thank you to all those distant ancestors who learned the importance of producing pure ethanol the hard way.

You also can’t assume that just because an element, or a group of atoms, is in a substance it will be harmful. Chemistry is funny like that. For example, fluorine gas, F2, is deadly stuff. Serious liver and kidney damage can occur if someone is exposed to even very tiny amounts of fluorine gas. But, take those fluorine atoms and pop them onto a carbon chain and you have PTFE, otherwise known as Teflon – something many of us have in our kitchens and cook food on every day.

There are probably thousands of examples like this. It’s wise to beware of general statements along the lines of “[aluminium] damages all types of tissue”, particularly when they refer to the element that’s the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. Gosh, how did humans ever evolve on such a deadly planet?

You need to check the specific chemical – if you’re not sure, look it up. Which is good life advice in general.

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