What Are Chemicals? Debunking the “Chemical-Free” Myth

I am a trained chemist and have been teaching high school and college chemistry for the last ten years. (Time flies when you’re having fun!) When I look around social media and speak with my students about science, one of the most common misconceptions I see and hear is about chemicals. Are there chemicals in my food? Are chemicals going to give me cancer? What chemicals are we feeding our children? How do I avoid chemicals?

Believe it or not, chemicals are a large part of your daily life. In science, we call “chemicals” chemical substances or chemical compounds, and define them as matter consisting of a constant composition that can be characterized by physical properties such as density and melting point (1). But what does that really mean? 

Well, chemicals, or chemical substances, are the observable substances that make up our universe (2). They are made of atoms, and include just about everything you interact with on a daily basis. The air you breathe, the water you drink, your clothes, and everything else, really, is made of chemicals. 

So why are we anxious about chemicals? 

I think a lot of the dominant discourse about chemicals has been centered about “toxic chemicals” or chemicals that can cause a significant health impact. Some toxicants (what scientists call toxic chemicals) can cause an immediate reaction after a single exposure. Others cause reactions after repeated exposures and over extended periods of time. Toxic chemicals that cause cancer are called carcinogens. 

There is a common saying in the study of toxicology: “The dose makes the poison.” Everything is poisonous given a large enough dose and a large enough amount of time.  For some chemicals, like arsenic, symptoms begin minutes to hours after ingestion. For others, like asbestos, it takes years to see the results of your exposure. For most chemical substances that we come into contact with, we aren’t exposed in a large enough amount for a long enough period of time for it to make us sick. But our personal care and beauty products (like soap) can be a source of long term, low dose exposure of toxic substances that could potentially impact us in the long term.

Here at The Clean Chemist, our products are made with safety in mind. We do not include ingredients that contain parabens, phthalates, or suspected carcinogens. And while there is no evidence that parabens and phthalates are toxic at the levels used in cosmetics, I personally choose to avoid them as they irritate my skin.

All essential oils that we use are USDA organic. All of our fragrances are purchased from sources that include a full list of ingredients. I primarily use natural colorants such as cocoa powder and spirulina. When I do use micas for colorants, they are sourced from reputable organizations that include a full list of ingredients.