the.com/industrial chemicals
the stuff civilization runs on and occasionally poisons its water table with.
means chemicals manufactured in bulk for use in industry rather than for direct consumption, forming the raw backbone of nearly every manufactured good.
from the term crystallized with the chemical industry itself in the 19th century, as sulfuric acid and soda ash production scaled from workshop curiosities into factory-driven economies, turning chemistry into infrastructure.
biggest by volumesulfuric acid, made in higher tonnage than any other chemical.
forever chemicalspfas resist breakdown, now found in most human blood.
ammonia paradoxfeeds half the planet, also made explosives.
regulation lagmost chemicals sold before safety testing was required.
for instance
sulfuric acid — over 200 million tons produced globally each year.
chlorine — bleached paper and purified water since the 1780s.
pfoa — dupont teflon chemical, litigated for decades of contamination.
tetraethyl lead — added to gasoline until phased out globally by 2021.