In Chapter III, I will look more closely at detoxification strategies as they relate to more benign alternatives. But it must be emphasized that the precautionary principle widely advocated by the environmental movement (where new chemicals are presumed dangerous until proven safe) sounds far more realistic when we appreciate that most synthetic chemicals were not developed for a specific purpose. They emerged from the industry, and then uses were found for them. And most of them took over pre-existing markets from safer materials that worked perfectly well, but usually werent as cheap (Commoner, 1990; Geiser, 2001). Whats more, the toxic constituents of most common products (e.g. wood finishes or vinyl shower curtains) have absolutely nothing to do with their purpose, making them, in McDonoughs words, products plus. You got the use-