Consumer Chemistry: A Class for the Concerned Citizen Carol Anderson University of Connecticut at Avery Point. Groton, CT 06340 A new type of student has come to Consumer Chemistry. Not a student with the dreaded "terminal chemistry disease," who cnuldn't Dass anv other chemistry cnurse, hut the consumers themselves. Future engineers, teachers, accountants, homemakers, and other students who want to know more abuut what they are huying and using are enrolling in this course. The instructor needs an approach and material that is different from that used with the traditional student. This paper discusses the design and implementation of such a course. Course Design and Resources Texts for the chemistry for nonscience majors course (1-3) are a good place to find topics related to consumer chemistry. Additional topics and ideas may he gleaned from newspapers and maeazines. Most ouhlic lihraries have eood collections of reference material and nontechnical hooks (4-1.5). College lihraries may he used to obtain in-depth information. I n f w mation booklets, films, speakers, and field trips can he arranged with local industries through their infnrmationlconsumer affairs office, or with government agencies or special interest grnups.' Topics from our consumer chemistry course are displayed in the tahle. Same nf the topics are introductory in nature, others relate to household hazards, and still others to consumer econtmics. Our course employs speakers, field trips, demonstrations. debates, and reports to spark student interest. The Introduction to Consumer Chemistry Our course begins hy asking students to state their interests and hackgrnund. The class then attempts a definition of consumer chemistry, and students' ideas fnr course design and resources are solicited. A librarian speaks to the class ahout the rexmrces available t.o consumers and search methods which are successful for various kinds of inlhrmatim. For exam~le.the DIALOG d a b base was searched for articles related to "lahel reading."The results of this search were ten references. which in turn aenerated more references The Evaluation of Consumer Products Intelligent use of one's senses and of Iahels to evaluate consumer products was the subject of this unit. Color, odor, and taste may be helpful. hut can also mislead. A speaker from a local wine shop discussed the qualities of various wines including additives wed to enhance these qualities. Some relevant odnrs-diacetyl, SO2,cinnamon, and vanilla extractwere demonstrated and related to o d i ~ rand taste theories (16-18).
Students are encouraged to read the list of ingredients, instructions for use, and warnings on lahels. The articles hrated through the I)IA1.0(; search gave many helpful hints on lahel reading. It was pointed out that commercial names often
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American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W.. Washington. DC 20036. Art Hazards information Center. 5 Beekman Street, New York. NY 1OORR
Center for Science in the Public interest. 1755 South Street N.W.. Washington. DC 20009. Consumer Information. Manufacturing Chemists Association. 1825 Connecticut Avenue NW.. Washington. DC 20009. 1034
Journal of Chemical Education
Topics for Consumer Chemistry Wilhoui Chemistry There Is No Life
The Consumer Evaluates Caution Toxic
an introduction to consumer chemistry
and methods for learning bout it seeing. smelling. tasting, and when all e15e fails, reading the label what we know, and what we do not know. can hurl us
Pollution around Food HOW I
the House
Spend My Free Time
the individual and his role in pollution natural? additives? preserved? nutritive? chemistry after hours in photqraphy. rock hounding, painting. and making wine
How My Garden Grows
Color Me Chemical The Laundry Room Cupboard Drugs of All
Transport Fibers Water
Kinds
weeds. bugs, and uses for the results cosmetic^, clothes, fwds,and houses a chemical storerwm far soaps and Other cleansers pmscriptions. over-the-counter. generic, street, and homemade petroleum products. washer fluid. antifreeze and rust-proofing see how they run, burn, and fade water. everywhere,but a drop to pH.
drink?
disguise the chemical nature of an ingredient and that the composition of a product may he proprietary. Also, the weight data may he ambiguous unless the weighinr procedure is known. Speakers In addition to the librarian and the wine shop proprietor already mentioned, several other guest speakers talked to the class. Amateurs (students in the class) interested in winemaking and in hlack-and-white photography discussed their hobbies. Professionals were a h invited to speak: an entw mologist on pesticides, a food chemist on food color, and a geologist on rocks and minerals. Speakers can add human interest as well as information. They should, however, be made aware of the students' hackground and how their topic is to he used in the course. Colleagues and friends often make successful guest speakers. Field Trips Field trios can nose soecial nrohlems in terms of transnortation, liahjlity, a h knohedge.uf. the area to he covered. often it is a eood idea to make a trial run before leadine students on a particular field trip. S in a course will ohviouslv The field ~ I ~ Dincluded . d e.~ e n d on what is lncally available. Most communities will have power plants, water and sewage treatment facilities. and hospitals. Our location permits visits to K bi D centers of pharmaceutical and cosmetics amnanies, a U.S.Coast Guard oreanwraphic laboratory and research vessel, and an aquarium. hev visit to the pharmaceutical center provided students with new insights from talks and demonstrations on folk medicine, computer design, and drug testing. The environmental impact of consumer products, particularly on wat.er quality, was the focus of the Coast Guard and aquarium field trips.
Concluding- Remarks Other activities (e.g., demonstrations, dehates, and reports) mav also he used tostimulate interest in a consumer chemistry course. Students are consumers, and their expertise and experiences should not he overlooked. T h e resources and strategies are available t o support an exciting and interesting course for consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds, abilities, and interests.
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