Trivial nomenclature: the INN and ISO systems

Abstract

Two industries above all others possess an insatiable appetite for new chemical and biochemical substances: Pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Consequently, nomenclature systems are required in order that scientists, commercial workers, health professionals and regulators working with these materials can communicate with each other in a precise and concise manner. It frequently happens that different groups of specialist workers elaborate colloquial forms of nomenclature that are meaningful within a given work area but which would be seen as mindless jargon by workers outside that area.