Chemistry in the Marketplace

Book excerpt: Chemicals are everywhere. Many are natural and safe, others synthetic and dangerous. Or is it the other way around? Walking through the supermarket, you might ask yourself: Should I be eating organic food? Is that anti-wrinkle cream a gimmick? Is it worth buying BPA-free plastics? This new edition of Chemistry in the Marketplace provides fresh explanations, fascinating facts and funny anecdotes about the serious science in the products we buy and the resources we use. It might even save you some money. With chapters on the chemistry found in different parts of our home, in the backyard and in the world around us, Ben Selinger and Russell Barrow explain how things work, where marketing can be deceptive and what risks you should really be concerned about. Chemistry in the Marketplace is a valuable resource for university lecturers, high school teachers and students of chemistry and chemistry related subjects and disciplines, such as biochemistry, microbiology and science in society.