# "Chemical" does not equal "poison", fuckheads. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454 "2004-07-16T17:53:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/21 "2004-07-17T00:47:08Z")
Lovely rant… Years ago I got into it with “my” chiropractor. Didn’t go to a chiropractor for long- and a friend of mine referred me to her (I now know that while I respect my friend in many ways - she’s a loop when it comes to health care.) The chiropractor went into my diet (why, I was there for sciatia I don’t know!) and started talking to me about the benefits of eating “natural” and “organic” foods. I think I went off the deep end - organic means carbon based, and many many poisons occur in nature. Never went back. I have little problem with people who say “I really don’t want my food shot up with hormones and treated with weed and bug repellant.” Get that. Its a terminology problem, not a philosophical one. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/22 "2004-07-17T00:55:58Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > You’re rght – words do have different meaning in different disciplines. It’s just that “organic food” looks, well, redundant to me. Example of a non-organic food: Twinkies. Nothing natural in THOSE things. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cj\_finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@cj\_finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cj_finn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/23 "2004-07-17T01:08:48Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Too true. Remember, “chemicals” is what them “chemical weapons” is made from. :rolleyes: Interesting you should say this as this seems to be the subterfuge employed by those who feel that Saddam DID have wmds. Your average Cenex is a freekin’ weapons depot on this basis. Great rant, this one. cj ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/24 "2004-07-17T01:10:07Z")
> [@masonite](#): > > Does anybody remember the print advertisement for a chemical company, maybe Dupont or Dow, featuring a picture of an orange and an ingredients list in chemical terms? Very effective; that has stayed with me for years. But I can’t find it on the web. Remember it? ~shudder~ I haven’t eaten an orange since! ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/25 "2004-07-17T04:44:14Z")
I don’t see why everyone’s bitching about these low-calorie energy bars. It can be no calorie and give you lots of energy. Why, just next month my roomate and I will be launching the Meth-an-pheto-am-O’s Cereal for pink, active kids! And all these people that avoid caffenine like the plague yet happily gulp down ginsing, ginko baloba, or guarana… Hey, at least it isn’t caffeine, and it’s ALL NATURAL! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/26 "2004-07-17T05:47:39Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > You forgot about the only thing worse than chemicals: _Atoms_ > > Years ago my roommate and I came to the conclusion that we sould one day conduct a little experiment. We wanted to enter a crowded department store or shopping mall, hold up a nondescript container and yell that it’s full of chemicals and atoms. Then we judge the state of average science education by the reactions. You want REAL fun? Get a hold of a very sensitive radiac meter, and point the probe at a bunch of bananas. Then watch the way people run away. 😃 **Colophon** , great rant. I love people who talk about using **nicotine** as an organic pesticide, and complain about chemicals on food. :rolleyes: Of course these people also get into problems with the concept that there are trace elements that are necessary for life, but toxic when in too high a dose: Selenium, and even Arsenic, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/27 "2004-07-17T06:38:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > What I found especially amusing was the Web site that spoke of selling computer systems that were radiation-free. Including the minitors. > > Tell me; if your monitor were to emit no radiation, what the hell would you be looking at? ] Here I was thinking in the first line you were talking about radiation free **minotaurs**. You had my hopes up! Here I am building a labyrinth and now that I’ve found free range gorgons and an organic gryphon, I thought a radiation free minotaur or two would be the piece de resistance. You’re just a tease! ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/28 "2004-07-17T07:07:58Z")
Excellent rant. Sorry, don’t have any good related stories to add though I DID love the dihydrous monoxide spoof, if anyone knows where I can get a copy I’d love a link. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/29 "2004-07-17T07:13:21Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Excellent rant. Sorry, don’t have any good related stories to add though I DID love the dihydrous monoxide spoof, if anyone knows where I can get a copy I’d love a link. > > Thanks. Ask and ye shall receive! [dihydrogen monoxide](http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dhmo.htm) By the way, has anyone seen any means of enforcement for all those schools that have labelled themselves ‘radiation free zones’? And if they are radiation free, how did they get the C-14 out of the kids? (I don’t care about the teachers so much, they have a choice to go through the procedure…) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/30 "2004-07-17T07:55:11Z")
Wow, thanks for all the support, people! My perception of global ignorance levels just improved a tick or two. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need my morning fix of 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione – and fast! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/31 "2004-07-17T21:47:29Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > ] > Here I was thinking in the first line you were talking about radiation free **minotaurs**. You had my hopes up! Here I am building a labyrinth and now that I’ve found free range gorgons and an organic gryphon, I thought a radiation free minotaur or two would be the piece de resistance. > > You’re just a tease! Radiation free minotaurs? Sounds like bull to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/32 "2004-07-17T23:46:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Example of a non-organic food: Twinkies. Nothing natural in THOSE things. 😃 Of course, twinkies _do_ expire, in time, and it reminds me of a guest on Carson’s _Tonight Show_ who was an expert on food packaging, or something. He picked up a twinkie. “Now, everyone seems to assume these things have the shelf-life of gravel…” I can’t remember the rest of the interview, but that line always cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/33 "2004-07-18T01:07:00Z")
I once saw a sign in a fruit and vegetable store proclaiming their produce to be “DNA-free”. I’m curious how it managed to grow. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/34 "2004-07-18T01:41:17Z")
> [@cj finn](#): > > Interesting you should say this as this seems to be the subterfuge employed by those who feel that Saddam DID have wmds. Your average Cenex is a freekin’ weapons depot on this basis. > > Great rant, this one. > > cj Agh. I was just skimming this thread, and I read the above post as: > [@](#): > > Interesting you should say this as this seems to be the subterfuge employed by those who feel that Saddam DID have wmds. Your average **Cervix** is a freekin’ weapons depot on this basis. I know safe sex is important and all, but I didn’t think it was _that_ important! ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/35 "2004-07-18T01:46:14Z")
Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Organic, 100% Natural, and Completely DNA Free! ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/36 "2004-07-18T04:59:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Great rant. I agree 100% Humans are a part of nature, as is everything we do and everything we create. A skyscraper is no less natural than a termite mound. A city is as much a natural enviroment as the heart of a forest. The opposite of “natural,” contrary to popular belief, is not “artificial.” It is “supernatural.” I’d probably list unnatural as opposite of natural, instead of supernatural. Then again, I’d probably argue about skyscrapers being natural, just because they are man-made, as well. If you apply too strict a defintion to the term “natural”, then you could also argue that murder is a natural cause of death. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/37 "2004-07-18T05:40:50Z")
This irks me 100%. My room mate’s mom is “allergic” to “chemicals”. Which ones? I ask. “All of them” is the reply. Now, I’m sure she might very well be hyper sensitive to several chemicals, but the fact that she has no idea that every single thing is a chemical astounds me. So of course my room mate is afraid of “chemicals”. She only uses liquid soap, because normal soap is “bad”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/38 "2004-07-18T06:11:56Z")
I used to be a pest control technician, or as I like to put it, I was a hired killer. 🆒 Not a work day would go by when someone didn’t ask me about my job in such a tone as to imply that I was a toxic waste spreader and killer of innocent pets and babies. To those that seemed open minded, I would provide copies of MSDS sheets and copies of labels of the products I used. I also gave them my business card if they had any further questions. No problem, once they realized pesticides can be used responsibly and safely, and that I took pains to do just that. To those that just wanted to rant about the eeeevul chemicals, I simply walked away. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/39 "2004-07-18T06:48:58Z")
> [@Optihut](#): > > I’d probably list unnatural as opposite of natural, instead of supernatural. Then again, I’d probably argue about skyscrapers being natural, just because they are man-made, as well. If you apply too strict a defintion to the term “natural”, then you could also argue that murder is a natural cause of death. My argument is that there is no such word as “unnatural.” Everything that exsists is a part of nature. Therefore, the opposite of “natural” must be “supernatural,” i.e. things that do not exsist. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454/40 "2004-07-18T06:51:52Z")
Man used to be considered in part supernatural. That legacy remains with us, and a number of people still believe it. In such conceptions of the world the works of man are in part deriving from a supernatural source, and are thus themselves not natural. It does annoy me when people think of it in terms of man different just because as opposed to man different because of God, soul, etc. I’m just asking for something to rest the idea on besides, “You can’t hug your children with nuclear arms.” I’m a fan of pesticides, because I hate insects. I hate what they do to stuff I want to eat. I understand the desire to use pesticides that have less left over on the food and don’t mess with humans. I’m a fan of not being poisoned by what I eat. Mankind’s control of the world around us is pretty much all we got. Take that away and we’re weak, hairless apes. One of the most telling bits on the extreme anti-meddling side comes from “Pen and Teller’s Bullshit”. When the raw food eaters are asked about the problem of feeding the world without the use of modern agricultural technology the reaction is a disgusting show of ignorance and casual callousness. P.S. I beg people to notice the word extreme in the first sentence of my last paragraph. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-does-not-equal-poison-fuckheads/255454.md?page=3)