>So why are we so inclined to trust natural molecules over synthetic ones?

A few reasons come to mind:

1.  They all biodegrade naturally.  Synthetics may do so only very
slowly--and some are quite persistant, such as DDT, Chlordane, or Teflon.
Some may accumulate in fat tissue, in fact, Peter your body fat currently
contains DDT and PCP's for the first time in human evolution.

2.  The human body likely has a history of being exposed to them, and has
learned to deal with them via evolution.

3.  They are already part of the natural environment, so that we are not
exposing ourselves nor other organisms to xenochemicals (*xenochemicals* are
chemicals that do not not naturally occur on earth)

4.  A number of xenochemicals have been found to have insidious effects upon
organisms at very low concentrations, e.g., endocrine disruption, DDT and
raptor eggshells,

5.  The Law of Unintended Consequences is still in effect

Randy Oliver

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