National Science Foundation environmental chemistry

The terms green chemistry and environmentally benign synthesis have been coined to refer to procedures explicitly designed to minimize the for mation of byproducts that present disposal problems Both the National Science Foundation and the Envi ronmental Protection Agency have allocated a por tion of their grant budgets to encourage efforts m this vein... 

Chadwick A. Tolman received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and until recently was a program officer in organic and macromolecular chemistry in the Division of Chemistry of the National Science Foundation. He is now a staff officer at the National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology. He has extensive experience and expertise in chemistry and chemical process development. Dr. Tolman spent 31 years in Central Research at the DuPont Experimental Station. His work has spanned a broad range of subjects, including hydrocarbon oxidation, organometallic chemistry, and the destruction of toxic organic compounds in wastewater. 

Within a year of the act s adoption, the EPA had assigned responsibility for its implementation to the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, formed in 1977 to administer the Toxic Substances Control Act, and had begun the first federally funded green chemistry programs. By 1992, the National Science Foundation had also begun funding research on "environmentally benign [chemical] syntheses and processes."... 

Sample analyses were carried out by a number of laboratories. We are grateful to Mr. Mark E. Peden and Ms. Loretta M. Skowron of the Water Survey s Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Unit for atomic absorption spectrophotometry, Mr. L. R. Henderson of the Illinois State Geological Survey for X-ray Fluorescence specto-scopy, and Dr. T. A. Cahill of the University of Califomia-Davis for elemental analysis. Mr. R. G. Semonin reviewed the manuscript. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ATM-7724294, and by the Department of Energy, Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research, under Contract No. EY-76-S-02-1199. 

Current experimental work in this area is still by and large in the analytical chemistry phase of development. Pertinent biological studies have not yet made significant headway because they are dependent on a firm chemistry base. Principal sponsors of current research, in addition to the Department of Interior, include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), National Science Foundation (NSF), and utility companies (12). 

Clemson University. Introductory Chemistry Lab Experiments in Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry Library. National Science Foundation, 2002. http //www.ces.clemson.edu/ecl/labs/general/ index.html... 

Joseph M. DeSimone (BCST Liaison) is William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. He is also director of the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes. He received his B.S. in chemistry form Ursinus College and his Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His areas of interest include polymer synthesis in supercritical fluids, surfactant design for applications in interfacial chemistry, and polymer synthesis and processing—from fundamental aspects of chemical systems to the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways to manufacture polymers and polymer products. 

This chapter was developed as part of the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation Science-Links program funded by Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, Davis Conservation Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, McCabe Environmental Fund, Merck Family Fund, John Merck Fund, Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust, the Sudbury Foundation, and the Switzer Environmental Leadership Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Support was also provided by the W. M. Keck Foundation and the National Science Foundation. We are indebted to Gene Likens for the use of long-term precipitation and steam chemistry data at Hubbard Brook. This is a contribution of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. 

The National Science Foundation has taken a small step towards addressing a selected subset of environmental problems. The Division of Chemistry and the Division of Chemical and Transport Systems have joined with the Council for Chemical Research in sponsorship of a new program - Environmentally Benign Chemical Synthesis and Processing (hereinafter referred to as "Benign Chemistry" or "Benign Manufacturing")(3). 

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