RCS Posts science: Chemistry and me. Chemistry in your life and mine. We can live better with chemistry, but need to protect ourselves from their toxicity.
I found myself thinking of chemistry the other day. Dozens of questions came to mind, memories too.
I began to think of myself and chemistry, I remembered that at some tender age I had collected a number of small glass bottles and containers in a space in our basement. And some larger bottles I had collected liquids and stuff from around the house. I did all this without informing my parents that I had become a chemist. After doing some mixing and matching, mostly by color, I began filling my small bottles with my marvelous mixtures. I was a chemist. As I remember, no one died or sickened from my work.
Next I remembered that at about 8 years of age I carried out some experiments with matches, carbide, water, and alcohol. This was done mostly outdoors.
Then came to mind a rather nice ''chemistry set'' my parents got for me when I was perhaps 10 or 11. My younger brothers got into it before I had explored it much. I hope that I did not want them to die from the quantities of my chemicals I believed that they had eaten.
Another memory comes to mind. I was looking for my class at a high school new to me. I walked into a classroom with only a teacher there. As I came forward, I saw a rather daunting wall-chart and asked the teacher about it. He said that it was a "periodic table." I asked, "Of what?" and he said ''chemistry." I imagine that he meant to say elements. He told me where to get information about my class. As I walked on, I thought, "No chemistry for me." If he had said elements, I might have been a chemist.
More recently after a brief review of a news article mentioning chemistry I began to think of toxic chemicals. That is when the question did begin to come. I still do not have very useful answers to them. I will share a number of them at the end of this piece. Perhaps we have some of the same questions. Perhaps you can add some to the list.
There are people in the chemical industry who would provided answers to many of our questions should we ask them; teachers too. I imagine that there are others who would be pleased to help us to find answers when we show interest. I have begun to talk of "us," Perhaps because I have begun to see us as being in the same boat; a boat load of chemicals?
It is good to remember that in many ways we do live better with chemicals. A chemist can be an honest neighbor, a good friend, a great lover, and his industry brings us a lot of good.
There are important members of the chemical industry who are interested in our goodwill, if not in our votes. There are people in that important industry who make it their business to know about our vote. Often they have found it more efficient to deal with our representatives in our House of Representatives than it is to deal more directly with us.
However, many companies are making efforts to keep us informed about the chemicals used in their industries and products. Many of these companies have websites with a great deal of important information about the effects of chemicals on our lives. Much of the information they provide is free.
There is information available. Your congress person or someone in her office her office is available to provide answers to our questions or to help us find them. She may also be interested in our comments and opinions. Search something like, House of Representatives, Washington DC online and get a phone number. Call that number and give the one who answers your zip code. You will be given the name of your Representative the and phone number of your Reps office. When you call you can introduce yourself and it is best to have a specific question or comment.
Once you have identified your representative you can find out how to contact his office by email or online. Then you may leave your Rep a note about what is on your mind. Or you might ask if there is pending legislation dealing with chemicals. Your courtesy will be appreciated.
Should any questions about chemicals in our life come to you, please feel free to post them in the "comments" section.
You might consider joining an organization or starting one. There is power in even a very small organization.
Test on chemistry politics
~ Who can help us get the facts? How can we help ourselves to them?
~ Who would like to confuse us about the facts?
~ What do we want?
~ What can we get now?
~ Who will help us find out how toxic a given chemical or compound in our life is?
~ Who agrees with me that we don't have to do anything?
~ Who is responsible?
RCS