Don’t Take Medical Advice From the New York Times Magazine“In some ways, chemophobia is more like color blindness than a true phobia, such as a fear of heights. Chemophobics are blind to the vast majority of chemicals they encounter. Every breath you take has almost as many molecules in it as there are stars in the universe, and each breath contains dozens of different chemicals, some of which, like oxygen, you can’t do without. Some chemicals are superheroes — antibiotics and anesthetics come to mind — others are villains that prey on the unwary: Every year, an average of 450 people in the United States are killed by the carbon monoxide produced by their furnaces and generators. The vast majority of chemicals are like the vast majority of people, doing their jobs, day in and day out, without fuss or recognition: DNA, caffeine, water, oxygen.”
That article reminded me of this.
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