Chemistry occupies only a small portion of the Papua New Guinea science curriculum in grades seven to ten. Science itself occupies only a small proportion of the total curriculum. Nevertheless the existing syllabus, and previous and planned future revisions of it, give considerable prominence to environmental, health and safety issues. There is a fundamental implicit ethical position within all Papua New Guinea curricula which comes from the philosophy of the "blending of cultures", put forward initially by F. E. Williams in the 1930s. Some chemically related health issues in Papua New Guinea Science Syllabuses are alcohol and tobacco abuse, betel-nut chewing and pesticides, and this paper will place more emphasis on these issues as they relate to chemistry portions of the syllabus. Papua New Guinea is a developing country in which extractive industries occupy a prime place in the local economy and the syllabus gives emphasis to one of these industries (the mining of copper ores), though it hardly mentions the effect of this industry on the environment. Over the years the syllabuses have changed and improvements have been made in the experiments demonstrated to or performed by students and this care for the safety of students is in itself an ethical statement. Finally the paper will criticise the lack of a quantitative base in science/chemistry curricula in Papua New Guinea on the grounds that the absence of this denies aspiring young Papua New Guinea scientists the means of comprehending the intellectual and ethical foundations of "Western" scientific thought.