In the science world, people specialising in chemistry – the science of substances – are usually called chemists. However, in wider society we use ‘chemist’ to mean pharmacist, so throughout this briefing we have used ‘chemical scientist’. You might also come across the following terms:

Toxicologist – someone who looks at the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms
Endocrinologist – someone who investigates how hormones work

• In the UK there are 25,000 employed chemists, 110,000 individuals with a chemistry degree in the population, and 100,000 individuals with a chemistry degree in the working population (Labour Force Survey, merged 2003-04).
• The largest employers of chemical scientists are the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry and academic research. Other large employers are statutory bodies such as the Environment Agency, the electronics industry, the health sector, and forensics.
• Many chemists are members or fellows of professional and learned societies. The largest is the Royal Society of Chemistry, which has 43,000 members.

CONTACT A CHEMICAL SCIENTIST

Sense About Science is a charity that promotes evidence in public debates about science and medicine. We help journalists, civic groups, NGOs, institutions and others get in touch with scientists.

Through Evidence Base – our constantly expanding database of scientists, scientific organisations and research facilities – we can usually find help on stories that interest the public.

The Sense About Science webpage www.senseaboutscience.org is another place to go when you need more information. In the chemicals section you will find:

• biographical details of the chemical scientists who helped compile this briefing document;
• contact details of other organisations that work in the chemicals sector; and
• the ongoing development of the scheme on page 8 for evaluating claims about chemicals and their risks, with examples.

For further information, or copies of this briefing, please contact Ellen Raphael on Eraphael@senseaboutscience.org