The Guide explains in accessible, non-technical language the science behind sugar and artificial sweeteners; cholesterol, animal fats and fibre; painkillers, and the risks associated with taking drugs; plastics and PVC; dioxins and nitrates in the environment; and carbon dioxide and the greenhouse gases. Also included are chapters on two products which are entirely chemical, but commonly not thought of as such: perfume and alcohol.

Here, the reader discovers that not only do fragrance chemicals give a great deal of innocent pleasure, their synthetic versions have been responsible for reducing the large-scale slaughter of some wild animals; and that alcohol can not only improve the quality of life, it may even prolong it.