Use Of Chemical Products example essay topic

If We Had Known About Green Chemistry In 1951, How Would Things Be Different Today? Green Chemistry is the making of chemical products that reduces or eliminates the use and production of hazardous substances in the designing, making, and use of chemical products. It involves the designing and re-designing of chemical creation and chemical products to prevent pollution which will therefore solve environmental problems. Green Chemistry is environmentally safe and has very little side effects on human health and the environment. Not many people know about Green Chemistry. Yet if we had know about Green Chemistry back around 1951, when the world began to develop it's industries - such as farming, after World War II we wouldn't now be battling things such as damage to the ozone layer, diseases and harm to the environment, caused by chemical pesticides and dumping of chemicals into our oceans and other waterways.

Not enough people realise the importance of chemicals and green chemistry in everyday life. Most people think of chemicals as poisonous pesticides and or pollution. But it's not. Chemicals can be used to help the environment. If we had known about Green Chemistry earlier many people could have been saved from diseases that were caused by chemical pollution. For example Asbestos is a chemical product used in buildings and trains.

It has a hazardous effect on human health. Very fine dust particles break out of Asbestos products and when breathed in, enters and poisons the lungs, causing lung cancer and difficult breathing. Another example is the use of chemical pesticides on crops. Especially after the World War II, when countries needed to regain economic stability. The farming industry used chemical pesticides and fertilizers to bulk up their crops. Chemical pesticides may be effective for only a couple of years.

After that the weeds insects and other pests develop immunity to that particular chemical. Also the way that most farmers apply their pesticides is by air which means that the winds could carry the chemicals away and into other areas such as bush land where animals may become poisoned and into waterways which then harms / poisons the fish, humans and anything else relying on that water source. The University of British Columbia released the results of several researches about the environmental impact of paper and polystyrene cups. The study showed that the paper cups were more environmentally friendly.

However the cost of producing and recycling paper cups was similar and even more than the cost of production, disposal and recycling of the polystyrene cups. CFC was mainly used as a propellant in the majority of spray cans for many years. Once CFC is released from the spray can it floats up into the upper layer of the atmosphere, the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a natural barrier where it filters the majority of the suns ultra-violet rays. The damage to the ozone layer has caused an increased number of skin cancers and a temperature rise. It changes the weather patterns causing either droughts or floods.

The use of CFC is now banned in Australia. The benefits of green chemistry approaches are obvious. However there are a few basic principles to follow. Prevention is one of them. It's a lot easier and better for everyone if we prevented waste instead of cleaning it up or treating it after it's already been created. People using chemicals should aim at using chemicals that are not harmful to human health and the environment The design of chemicals should also be taken into consideration.

Chemical products should be designed to perform its desired function while not harming the user or the environment. Energy requirements should be minimise d if possible, synthetic chemistry should be conducted at a rotating temperature and pressure. Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into harmless degenerated products and do not persist in the environment. Essentially of safer chemistry to prevent accidents. Substances and the form of substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimise the possibility of chemical accidents. Including releases, explosions, and fires.

If we had known about green chemistry in 1951 the world would be quite different today. There wouldn't be as many diseases and the ozone layer wouldn't be as damaged. Green Chemistry is a safe way to prevent more damage to our environment.