It was in early June 1980, that my phone rang. On the line was Helen Gougeon, host of a talk show on radio station CJAD. Would I like to come on the air and comment on the controversy that had been alluded to in the Montreal Gazette? That call turned out to be life-changing, the beginning of what has become a 45-year stint on CJAD with a show dedicated to demystifying science and answering listeners’ questions that have ranged from the thoughtful to the bizarre.

The newspaper article described a chemistry show that a couple of colleagues and I had been putting on at Montreal’s Man and His World exhibition, a spinoff of Expo 67. At the time, there was concern about urea-formaldehyde, a popular insulating agent that was accused of releasing toxic formaldehyde into the air.

The columnist wondered why we were entertaining the public with a demonstration that presented this substance in a positive light. I quickly responded, explaining that we were demonstrating the formation of polyurethane, a totally different substance, and that the only similarity with urea-formaldehyde was that both could be produced as foams. I agreed to come on with Helen to discuss this “controversy,” and I guess she liked my approach because I was invited back to answer some listener questions, which I have been doing on the Dr. Joe Show ever since.

I thought that after four and a half decades, it would be fun to reflect on some of these questions, the nature of which has certainly changed since the early days. There was of course no Internet back then and no social media spewing out scares and miraculous remedies on a daily basis.

Callers wanted to know how best to clean silverware (wrap in aluminum foil and immerse in hot sodium........

© Montreal Gazette