I recall some years ago a discussion we had with an environmentalist at a time when the rules governing the use of PVC insulation in household power wiring were

I recall some years ago a discussion we had with an environmentalist at a time when the rules governing the use of PVC insulation in household power wiring were being changed in that PVC was being replaced with another plastic that was usable but not nearly as good as the PVC. During the discussion the environmentalist said to the effect "we're working towards eliminating (banning) chlorine from the planet". We were so shocked at what she said that we decided never to mention the element by name again and only referred to it as element 17. This experience was a salient lesson what can happen when ignorance and popular notions mix. No doubt PFAS-type chemicals have been grossly abused as were CFCs and they need tight regulation but as we saw with the Montreal Protocol simply banning most CFCs outright rather than introducing strict regulation caused many problems. This led to certain chemicals becoming unavailable that had no effective but 'safer' equivalents and this has been problematic. Even now, I know of people who still have drums of CFCs which they almost guard with their lives—they won't even part with an ounce of the stuff for love nor money because when gone it's the end of the line. It doesn't end there, in recent years we've seen certain CFCs being released to the atmosphere from illegal manufacturing in countries where monitoring isn't strictly controlled. Like illegal drugs, if there's sufficient demand people will supply them. Banning over 12,000 chemicals outright without a full and detailed investigation is certainly to cause similar problems. We should learn from the CFC experience and take a carefully measured approach. Careful and strict regulation is likely a much better way of dealing with the problem.. I wonder how long it will be before we'll have to start whispering 'element 9' in hushed tones for fear of those who would wish it banned from the planet.