Chemophobia: a systematic review

Introduction. For a chemist, even going to the supermarket can be a pain. Shelves are full of products that flaunt their naturalness and their lack of certain chemicals – if not all chemicals. As a chemistry graduate myself, I feel – and so many of my colleagues – the urge to defend my discipline, as if it was under attack. This common feeling of a public aversion towards chemistry has even resulted in the creation of a new word, chemophobia, used to indicate the fear laypeople have towards what is perceived as chemical...