100 chemical myths : misconceptions, misunderstandings, explanations / Lajos KovaÌcs, DezsoÌ Csupor, GaÌbor Lente, TamaÌs Gunda ; translated from the Hungarian by GaÌbor Lente and Katalin OÌsz.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-361) and index.

Misconceptions In General: -- Fear of the unknown: chemicals -- Life as a risky business -- Natural products: delusion of safety -- Man-made commodities of safety issues -- Cholera pandemonium: blind leading the blind -- Regulating chemicals: maybe or maybe not -- Biowaste: biotechnology in perspective -- Ice skating and the science of sliding -- So what's happening to the ozone hole? -- Predicting the elements: success and failure -- Vedic wisdom: lead and Ayurveda -- Manipulating weather: ocean fertilization -- Food: -- Test your cranberry pie: vitamin C and benzoates -- Food dyes: the good, the bad and the ugly: -- Azo dyes -- Triphenylmethane dyes -- Organic vegetable hype: -- Question for eternity: natural or artificial fertilizers? -- Nitrates in vegetables -- Are organic vegetables more nutritious than others? -- You're the one for me, fatty: concocted fats -- Fat matters: margarine vs butter -- Fake food and kidney stones -- Coming shortage: vanilla and menthol -- Red alert: meat colors -- Moldy business: whole-grain cereals -- Red wine and the vineyard blues -- Popeye's spinach and the search for iron -- Perplexing spice: curry -- Bigger the better? The alpha and omega of fatty acids -- Sweet as birch: xylitol -- Bittersweet effects; grapefruit seeds -- Sweet dreams without sugar: artificial sweeteners: -- Saccharin case in a nutshell -- Aspartame and methanol -- Ointment for your throat: the secrets of olive oil -- To add or not to add? Food additives: -- Baking powder -- Salicylic acid -- Chinese restaurant syndrome and monosodium glutamate -- There's salt, and then there's salt -- Sugar for your tea? White or brown? -- Thickening stuff: guar gum gumbo -- Is caffeine free of risk? -- Biofuel dilemma -- Perfect timing: egg cooking -- Food fraud: then and now -- Medicines: -- Are generic medicines the same as the original? -- Vitamin that never was: B-17 -- Joint efforts: glucosamine and chondroitin -- Man's drug of choice: testosterone -- Doped up and ready to win-maybe -- Can placebos heal? -- Synthetic drugs vs natural herbs -- Bitter, stronger: herbal tea sweeteners -- Homeopathy: no active ingredient? No side effect? -- Aromatherapy: nice but useless? -- Innocent or guilty? chamomile -- Depressed: antidepressant side effects -- Pre-emptive action: vitamin C -- Vitamin megadosing: the real truth -- Detox hoax: poison removal from your body -- Cloudy dreams in green: absinthe -- Is green tea caffeine-free? -- Red rice remedy: cholesterol relief? -- What exactly does aloe cure? -- Island pleasure for businessmen: noni -- Castor oil: a painful story -- Oldest sugar-free candy: licorice -- Cannon balls for your health: antibiotics -- Hearty soybeans: phytoestrogens -- Willow fever aspirin -- Pill secrets: the efficiency of drugs -- In quest of active ingredients: herbs -- Getting rid of acids: alkaline cures -- Upon the face of the waters: mineral and tap water -- Illusive qualities of plant preparations -- Antioxidant story -- Stomach ache: baking soda -- Does hot pepper cause ulcer? -- Cocaine-drug, narcotic, or what? -- Catastrophes, Poisons, Chemicals: -- Is the use of cyanogen bromide forbidden in hospitals? -- Poison in groundwater: arsenic -- Don't touch the spilled mercury!.-- Was DDT of more harm than use? -- Could dioxin be the most toxic substance? -- Was napoleon murdered with arsenic? -- Resin wars: formaldehyde -- Great Hungarian red mud delude -- Death in a single grain -- Closer look at acids -- O, the fresh smell of ozone -- Diamond thermometer -- Everlasting love: diamonds -- Is pH 5-5 neutral? -- Sorrel soup scare: oxalic acid -- Mysteries of magnetism -- Water: the extravagant liquid -- Fire in space -- Is natural gas toxic? -- Respiratory affairs: carbon dioxide -- True death toll of Chernobyl -- Were there nuclear explosions in Chernobyl or Fukushima? -- What was the Gulf War Syndrome?: -- Nerve agent antidote Pyridostigmine Bromide (PB) -- Organophosphate type pesticides and insect repellents -- Nerve agent Sarin -- Depleted uranium shells -- Strange case of Bisphenol A -- Death in the Danube: Cyanide spills -- Sparkling Cyanide: the ultimate poison -- Poly-what? Plastics vs natural materials -- Difference between a rose and a cornflower -- Erin Brockovich mystery: Chromium salts --

Overview: 100 Chemical Myths deals with popular yet largely untrue misconceptions and misunderstandings related to chemistry. It contains lucid and concise explanations cut through fallacies and urban legends that are universally relevant to a global audience. A wide range of chemical myths are explored in these areas; food, medicines, catastrophes, chemicals, and environmental problems. Connections to popular culture, literature, movies, and cultural history hold the reader's interest whilst key concepts are beautifully annotated with illustrations to facilitate the understanding of unfamiliar material. Chemical Myths Demystified is pitched to individuals without a formal chemistry background to fledgling undergraduate chemists to seasoned researchers and beyond.