The word ‘chemical’ has been recently subjected to negative connotations, especially in the food industry. There have been major efforts in food preservation to advance such chemical knowledge and it is certainly frightening for people to think that anything unnatural be consumed, anything that has ‘chemicals’ in it.
But the truth is that chemicals are everywhere and are in everything. They take part in everyday biological systems. Part of the reason the term chemical has adapted a negative connotation, in my opinion, is largely due to the marketing industry. It is very easy to adopt slogans that would deter people from purchasing anything that contains synthetic materials. This in turn brings in huge revenue for the chemical-free/organic industry.
Now while I agree that organic materials are healthier for human consumption, I believe that the term ‘chemical’ which is closely related to ‘chemistry’ has brought many negative overtones for the field.
Here is an article talking more about the subject:http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/may/19/manmade-natural-tasty-toxic-chemicals