Explain what chemophobia is, the "symptoms", and how you would help people who are afflicted better understand the importance of chemistry.

Chemophobia is essentially the fear of chemicals or prejudice against them. Below are some symptoms of chemophobia and ways to combat the symptoms to others are able to understand the importance of chemistry.

The fear of chemicals is a typical symptom of chemophobia. In this instance a person may deem particular chemicals as bad or have an irrational fear of many different chemicals. In order to combat this issue you can explain the world is made of many different chemicals and there is a need to rationally evaluate the specific chemicals in question. In order to evaluate a chemical as a component of a product have them do research on how much of the chemical is present in the product and consult research studies if available.

Another symptom is not adding any context to their fear of a particular chemical or chemicals. It is commonly known that the dose of a chemical is very important. Many over the counter medications such as acetaminophen are fine at smaller doses but can result in adverse reactions if taken in higher doses. Reiterate that dosage is important and have them question this aspect before determining if the chemical in question is "bad".

Finally, an additional symptom could be their fear of every chemical being linked to cancer. It is important to validate these "links" and determine if the chemical actually caused a cancer and to question statistical analyses of any relevant claim to ensure it is not misleading. And as from above, accounting for the dose is very important which overlaps with this particular issue.