The Media's Miscommunications

    How many times have you heard a positive news report about the chemical industry?   Wouldn't it be nice to hear?:
        "The proposed site of the new polymer plant will bring hundreds of jobs to area.  The plant will produce plastics that can be used for food storage, protective equipment, and scores of other useful materials."

    However, instead of this type of report you'll often hear reports like this:
            "The people who live near the proposed area for the new chemical plant gathered near city hall today to protest the entrance of a potentially dangerous element into their community."

    While a chemical plant is indeed "potentially dangerous", so is driving to the grocery store or opening a tin can!  The truth is that a chemical plant presents little danger to it's surroundings.  Accidents certainly do happen, but the statistical risks are no greater than those of an aircraft crashing into your home.
    The media of the world has helped attach an overwhelmingly negative connotation to the word "chemical".  People forget that everything they touch, including their own bodies, are made of chemicals.  The public is fed images of plants releasing large white clouds into the air to raise opposition (most of those clouds are steam).  Journalist write about the chemical industry without consulting someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

1.    "Carbon monoxide is formed when something burns in the absence of oxygen"
2.    "The aqualung recycles expired air and removes carbon monoxide"
3.    "Sodium hydroxide, E524: a 1% solution is strongly acidic"

    All of the above have shown up in world journalism or even law (#3)!  If you don't notice the mistakes in these articles, you may be at the wrong website.  A well educated high school student could pick out the problems with these statements.  The media's miscommunications continue to damage an industry that has brought so much to the world.  Do they ever stop to wonder where their Pepsi, Pepsi bottles, carpeting, compact discs, and everything else comes from?