Are you willing to spray some trichlor on rusty metal and MIG weld on it? I wouldn't. Having taken about a dozen inorganic and organic chemistry classes and lab courses gave me a healthy respect for some of the thousands of chemicals we encounter. I worked with two pipefitters and a welder who were overcome and suffered permanent nervous system damage while welding (arc) in a large waste oil tank in a steel mill. Investigation never determined what solvent or solvents were in there that reacted with extreme welding heat to injure and nearly kill them. Did you know that the largest source of dioxin (that's the nasty stuff known as Agent Orange) in our environment is the decomposition from burning plastic? This stuff is toxic and carcinogenic in parts per billion, not ppm as we measure most toxins. Ask the former surviving residents of Times Beach, Missouri the results of not taking care with chemicals. We U.S. taxpayers spent billions in Superfund money to relocate the whole town and bag it up and send it to a hazardous waste facility. But as the old Monsanto commercials once said, "Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible." You betcha.
