Why are we so scared of chemicals?

If you were paranoid, you might think there really was something in the water that's damaged our sense of reason. But since about the 1960s, a strange, pervasive fear has swept across the developed world - the illusion that there is a miasma of poison threatening to invade our bodies. It's changed the food we eat, the air we breathe, the toys we give our children.

Our bete noire? "Chemicals". Or, more precisely, artificial, man-made chemicals. Even when an overwhelming body of evidence proves a synthetic substance to be safe, many people would still prefer a natural alternative, somehow believing that a plant extract is less harmful than factory produce.

Scientists have a name for this phobia - 'chemonoia'. "It is the excessive fear of 'chemicals', based on emotion more than information," says David Ropeik, who recently wrote a paper in a peer-reviewed toxicology journal on the subject. Ropeik has taught risk communication to various institutions, including Harvard University, MIT and Boston University, while also acting as a consultant to various corporate clients.

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