CHAPTER 7: Using Chemophobia as a Weapon

In this chapter, we examine three chemophobic movements: anti-vaccination, anti-fluoridation and opposition to genetically modified organisms (anti-GMO). We find that in all three cases, the fear of chemicals was a proxy weapon used by the disaffected group to attack the perpetrator of a social or political injustice. In anti-vaccination movements, for example, vaccine myths spread most rapidly in areas such as Leicester, England, where mandatory vaccination laws were enacted with overzealously draconian force. Organic food movements gained momentum after corporations exerted increasing control over traditional family farms, relegating them from self-sufficient farmsteads to a corporate franchise. In anti-fluoridation movements, arguments against fluoridation were more about personal liberties and freedom than about health because the people of Grand Rapids, USA, were not consulted prior to widespread fluoridation of the water supply in 1945. Initial opposition was instantaneous, and sustained opposition was more motivated by politics and social status than by any genuine health concerns. In all three cases, the protestors cherry-pick scientific findings to support their claims while ignoring much larger, more convincing bodies of evidence. This supports Li's finding that while people's core beliefs are ideological and irrational, they attempt to justify their beliefs to other people by cherry-picking facts.