The phrase “Better Living Through Chemistry” is an adaptation of Dupont’s 1935 to 1982 advertising slogan of “Better Things for Better Living… Through Chemistry”. 

It has become something of a cultural icon, and more recently an indictment of big agra and big pharma companies for their abuses of trust and reckless endangerment of the public health.  

Today there is a growing awareness of and alarm about the pervasive effects of this philosophy and how hazardous chemicals have been insinuated into every aspect of our lives.  

In the decades since Dupont coined their slogan, we’ve been conditioned to accept fluoride in our toothpaste, chlorine in our water, carcinogenics in our personal care and household products, and additives, drugs and pesticides in our food.  We may well go down in history as the generation that systematically poisoned ourselves and the planet.

Global air, food and water supplies have been put at risk by a profit-driven, wanton disregard for safety and long-term consequences.  

Environmental pollution occurs from:

• PCBs – polychlorinated biphenyls are toxic organic compounds that affect soil and water.  Contaminated materials have been used as landfill or released into rivers and lakes.

• Toxic metals – some heavy metals are required in minute amounts by living organisms (copper, chromium, manganese, nickel, iron) but may be damaging in excess.  Others are carcinogenic or toxic (mercury, lead, arsenic, aluminum).  High concentrations occur primarily from industrial processes, and do not decay or diminish once introduced into the environment.

• Dioxins –  chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins bioaccumulate; 90% of human exposure comes from meat, dairy, fish and shellfish though the source is usually an industrial byproduct, occasionally the result of volcanoes and forest fires.

Hazardous substances have been deliberately introduced into the food chain:

• Pesticides - There are different formulations to control insects, rodents, weeds, mold, fungus and bacteria.  These may be taken up and assimilated during the plant’s growth cycles, or remain as a residue on products going to market.

• Fertilizers - Hazardous industrial wastes are recycled into fertilizer, introducing not only useful minerals like zinc, but also dangerous substances such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, uranium, mercury and dioxin.

• Animal drugs – questionable feeding practices and the hormones, antibiotics and chemicals used in beef, pork, poultry and fish production raise issues regarding safe consumption by humans.
 
Further contamination of our food often occurs in industrial processing, introducing elements that may render the end products unsafe for human consumption: 

• Additives – to enhance flavour, colour, control acidity, prevent caking or foaming, bulk up, emulsify or stabilize.  The chemicals and their potential combinations in additives can constitute a health hazard.

• Preservatives -  Unlike the relatively innocuous sugar, salt and vinegar preservatives, controversy continues over the safety of nitrites, sulfites, benzoates and other chemicals used as antimicrobial, antibacterial and chelating agents.

• Dyes – food colourings are used to enhance appearance but some are thought to have negative health consequences.  Whether artificial or natural, reactions may occur in some people.