Chemistry at Home: Exploring the Ingredients in Everyday Products - Softcover

Emsley, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849739404 ISBN 13: 9781849739405

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015

Synopsis

Hand cream, detergent, shower gel, toothpaste, toilet cleaner, air freshener, lipstick, perfume, low-fat spread, painkiller, diet drink, insect repellent… hundreds of everyday products that make our lives so much better than those of our forebears. And yet most of us know little about the ingredients they contain and why they deliver the benefits we enjoy.
Some people find it worrying when they examine the list of ingredients on a packaging label, because all they read may be unintelligible names or E numbers. It appears to be just chemicals, chemicals, chemicals. The aim of this book is to examine the ingredients more closely and explain the reasons for their being used.
Start reading and stop worrying.
Chemistry at Home has been written by award-winning popular science writer and chemist, John Emsley, using non-technical language. The book has 12 chapters, each devoted to the kinds of products we are likely to find around the home, including in the garage and the garden shed. Chemistry at Home also includes a glossary which gives more technical information about the molecules mentioned in the book.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Hand cream, detergent, shower gel, toothpaste, toilet cleaner, air freshener, lipstick, perfume, low-fat spread, painkiller, diet drink, insect repellent… hundreds of everyday products that make our lives so much better than those of our forebears. And yet most of us know little about the ingredients they contain and why they deliver the benefits we enjoy.
Some people find it worrying when they examine the list of ingredients on a packaging label, because all they read may be unintelligible names or E numbers. It appears to be just chemicals, chemicals, chemicals. The aim of this book is to examine the ingredients more closely and explain the reasons for their being used.
Start reading and stop worrying.
Chemistry at Home has been written by award-winning popular science writer and chemist, John Emsley, using non-technical language. The book has 12 chapters, each devoted to the kinds of products we are likely to find around the home, including in the garage and the garden shed. Chemistry at Home also includes a glossary which gives more technical information about the molecules mentioned in the book.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chemistry at Home

Exploring the Ingredients in Everyday Products

By John Emsley

The Royal Society of Chemistry

Copyright © 2015 John Emsley
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-84973-940-5

Contents

Technical Words You May Need to Help You Understand the Text, 
Chapter 1 The Medicine Cabinet, 
Chapter 2 The Utility Room, 
Chapter 3 The Bathroom, 
Chapter 4 The Desk, 
Chapter 5 The Toilet, 
Chapter 6 The Cupboard Under the Stairs, 
Chapter 7 The Bedroom, 
Chapter 8 The Kitchen, 
Chapter 9 The Dining Room/Food and Drink, 
Chapter 10 The Living Room, 
Chapter 11 The Garage and the Car, 
Chapter 12 The Garden Shed, 
Glossary, 
Sources and Web Sites, 
Subject Index, 

CHAPTER 1

The Medicine Cabinet

Every home should have a medicine cabinet, which needs to be out of the reach of children. In it are kept the medicines for the various everyday afflictions that beset us, such as headaches, indigestion, coughs, colds, aches and pains, spots, cuts, sore eyes, blocked ears, warts, and other more personal problems. (Constipation relief is covered in Chapter 5.)

The family medicine cabinet might also include medication that has to be prescribed by a doctor, and while these are also products produced by pharmaceutical chemists, they are not something included here. The products in our medicine chest are:

1. Pain relief (Solpadeine® Plus, Cuprofen®, Disprin®)
2. Indigestion (Rennie® Spearmint, Alka-Seltzer®, Zantac®)
3. Eye wash (Optrex®)
4. Cough medicine (Venos® Chesty Cough Expectorant, Tixylix Dry Cough Linctus®)
5. Earwax remover (Otex®)
6. Cracked soles of feet (Flexitol® Heel Balm)
7. Rheumatism avoidance and relief (Boots Glucosamine Sulphate, Ibuleve™ Gel, Voltarol®)
8. Skin infections (Bazuka™ Gel, Canesten®)
9. Antiseptic ointment (Savlon®)
10. Diarrhoea (Imodium®)
11. Sore throat remedies (Strepsils®)
12. Anti-itching cream (Eurax® Cream)

1. PAIN RELIEF

The Chemistry

There is no need today to suffer the everyday aches and pains that afflicted past generations. There are three popular painkilling chemicals that can be obtained over-the-counter and these are aspirin, paracetamol, and ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is a good anti-inflammatory, paracetamol is a good painkiller, while aspirin can do both but it brings the risk of stomach bleeding. These medications are also able to reduce fever, the higher temperature being a sign the immune system is fighting infection.

The best and quickest cure for headaches is paracetamol, which comes in various guises, and the one described here contains two other ingredients that can boost its performance.

The best cure for muscle and joint pain is ibuprofen, which suppresses the excess arachidonic acid that is the cause. (We need this molecule to make prostaglandins, hormones, and cell membranes.) In response to a strained muscle, an infection, or an arthritic joint, the body will produce a local excess of prostaglandins and this causes inflammation and pain. Ibuprofen blocks the enzyme that is responsible.

Aspirin is recommended as immediate treatment for someone who is suffering a stroke or heart attack because it restores blood flow by thinning the blood, which it does by controlling the cyclo-oxygenase (COX) enzymes. It can even save a life. (Older people should carry a couple of aspirin tablets with them at all times.) Aspirin counteracts the production of plat

Edition details

• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1849739404
• ISBN 13: 9781849739405
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432