- Dr. Haxton studied students' and the public's perceptions of chemistry and chemicals. She found that terminology like "chemical" can negatively influence perceptions of safety. - Two student projects explored perceptions qualitatively through focus groups and interviews. This challenged students by using subjective research methods unlike typical chemistry. - Questionnaires found people view natural chemicals like water as safer than man-made chemicals. However, changing the name (e.g. "dihydrogen monoxide") influenced perceived safety. - More education in chemistry did not necessarily result in more objective or accurate views of chemicals, showing the influence of terminology. Further research is needed on concepts of chemicals.

1. Do Chemists have
Chemophobia? An Update
Dr Katherine Haxton
@kjhaxton k.j.haxton@keele.ac.uk

2. Background
August 2013 – oral bite, vicephec 2013 (Liverpool)
May 2014 – students (finally) select projects
September 2014 – June 2015 student projects
June 2015 – RSC ‘Public attitudes to chemistry’
report published (a little too late for the students)

3. Literature
Multiple definitions of chemophobia:
- anxiety about learning chemistry [Eddy, J Chem Ed 2004]
- ignorance about chemistry [Smith J Chem Ed 2008]
“chemical illiteracy”
- anxiety about chemicals [Berdosonov J Chem Ed 1999]
“irrational fear of chemicals”
Frequency of ‘chemophobia’ in books – SOURCE: Google ngram viewer
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

4. RSC Attitudes – UK ‘Public’
Chemists are approachable – 88%
Chemists make valuable contribution to society – 84%
Where do chemists work?: pharmacies (76%), laboratories
(49%), hospitals (29%), pharma (17%), med reseearch (17%)
http://www.rsc.org/campaigning-outreach/campaigning/public-attitudes-chemistry/
#chemperceptions

5. Tale of Two Students – Zaynah & Harriet
Very ‘different’ to previous research experiences
New methods – focus groups, interviews, questionnaires
Ethics! [3 or 4 rounds with ethics panel per project]
Subjective research (which conflicts with chemistry’s objective
approach)
Most useful data was from questionnaires
Must challenge personal conceptions
Limited peer-reviewed literature available
Challenging to supervise and mark

6. Terminology
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
aspirin acetylsalicylic
acid
2-acetylbenzoic
acid
water dihydrogen
monoxide
Averageofresposes
Rate these substances 1 = Safe,3 = neutral, 5 = Unsafe

7. Aspirin and Related
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
2-acetylbenzoic acid
acetylsalicylic acid
aspirin
safe fairly safe neutral fairly unsafe unsafe

8. Aspirin: Known or Unknown
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
ABA unknown
ABA known
ASA unknown
ASA known
aspirin known
Safe fairly safe neutral fairly unsafe unsafe

9. Water vs Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
DHMO known
DHMO unknown
Water known
Water unknown
safe fairly safe neutral fairly unsafe unsafe

10. Is water a chemical?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
scientist
non-scientist
YES ambiguous NO

11. “That would depend on what context the definition is
being used for. Technically a water is a chemical
compound - it's got a chemical formula of H2O and
is formed via chemical bonds. But most of the
time, no, I wouldn't classify water as a chemical.
It's safe and nontoxic and I don't think of
something I would use to wash off lab
equipment as a chemical, really. Kind of like how
by the technical definition a tomato is a fruit but you
wouldn't put it in a fruit salad.”
- non-scientist
Is water a chemical? Please explain:

12. “No. I suspect that, technically, it is one -
but I would use the word 'chemical' in
everyday speech to imply something
potentially harmful or artificial - in
relation to drugs, cleaning materials,
food additives, etc.”
- scientist
Is water a chemical? Please explain:

13. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
None
GCSE
A Level
Degree
Post Degree
Natural chemicals are safe
Strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongy disagree

14. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
None
GCSE
A Level
Degree
Post Degree
Man-made chemicals are dangerous
Strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongy disagree

15. Conclusions
Small sample sizes but interesting results
Challenging but worthwhile style of project to run
Further studies
- investigate conceptions around the word ‘chemical’
- does chemistry education make a difference?
- impact of chemical language on assessment of safety
(implications for laboratories)

16. Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG
www.keele.ac.uk
Acknowledgements:
Zaynah Farak and Harriet Holt,
Dr Lisa Lau (Chair of School Ethics Panel),
Dr Rob Jackson, Dr Richard Darton