Organic compounds
Organic chemistry deals not only with the chemistry of life and the natural carbon compounds but also with the huge, daily increasing number of synthetic carbon compounds. At the end of the last century the number of these carbon compounds amounted to 15 million with an annual increase of circ. 600,000 compounds. (Current values).
We are living in a world which is largely shaped by organic compounds, e.g.:
the clothes we wear (wool, cotton, leather, synthetics);
the commodities we use (wood, plastic);
the sources of primary energy we still use every day (petroleum, natural gas, coal);
the remedies with which illnesses can be cured.
But organic compounds can also put our lives at risk, e.g.:
the insecticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), which accumulates in nature and the food chain more and more;
the highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins;
the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which among other things are used as propellants in spray cans and which damage the protective ozone layer of the atmosphere.
All the more reason the knowledge and control of organic chemistry must be improved, so it can be applied advantageously to men and nature.