Paul Anastas, Ph.D., director of the Green Chemistry Institute at the American Chemical Society, is often known as the “Father of Green Chemistry.” Anastas coined and defined that term in 1991, when he was chief of the Industrial Chemistry Branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He continued to foster efforts at developing green chemistry and engineering while serving as assistant director for environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He had responsibility for issues including climate change, green chemistry, oceans, sustainability, mercury, air quality, water and ecosystems, toxics, and environmental indicators.
On the eve of the 10th annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, Anastas discusses green chemistry and its challenges with the ACS News Service Weblog.
ACS News Service: What is green chemistry?
Paul Anastas: Green chemistry is the design of new
products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of
hazardous substances. This means that not
only the structures of a final product can be designed to be non-hazardous but
also each
of the transformations along the way to manufacture of a product are designed
so that
they don’t use or generate hazardous substances.
ACS: How does it differ from traditional efforts
to reduce air and water pollution from chemical processes?
Anastas: We’re really talking about is the chemistry
of sustainability. There is an implicit consideration life cycle impacts with
the scope of green chemistry. Although traditionally pollution prevention was
thought to focus on waste reduction and waste minimization, green chemistry
includes and expands this focus to all stages of the life cycle. The importance
of this expansion is seen through commonly reported achievements from industry
where the greatest economic benefit as well as the greatest environmental benefits
are being realized as much in the early stages of the process or product life
cycle as they are in the latter stages.
ACS: What is chemistry for sustainability?
Anastas: Sustainability has been defined roughly as
“the ability to maintain the development of the quality of life while not
compromising the ability of our progeny to do the same.”
ACS: These efforts go far beyond the traditional bounds
of chemistry?
Anastas: They do. Contributions from many disciplines will be required if sustainability
is to become a reality. The intersection of molecular biology and engineering
produces microorganisms capable of synthesizing chemicals from biomass.
Advances in green chemistry employ reactions that use less hazardous substances
and generate less waste. Improved products are designed through research in
materials science.
ACS: What are the major scientific
challenges for green chemistry in the years ahead?
Anastas: The green chemistry programs implemented by
government industry and academia
on a voluntary basis have achieved success in reducing risk through the reduction
of intrinsic hazard at the molecular level. We must answer some key questions
in the future. What is the molecular basis of hazard – toxicological, physical and global?
Can we use weak forces as a design tool
in imparting performance as we have done with covalent forces? What is the
pathway toward designing catalysts from first theoretical principles? Can we use energy in the place of
matter to effectively carry out transformations catalytically on a commercial
scale? Are the reaction types and feedstocks
we use currently in chemical manufacturing the one’s we should be using in the
next ten, twenty years? If we are to meet the challenges of sustainability, it
will require that we address the problem at the molecular level as one part of
the solution.
ACS: What are
your hopes and expectations from this 10th conference?
Anastas: When the scientists, engineers, business
people, environmentalists, policy-makers, teachers and students come together
at the conference, they are building collaborations around the power of the
possible. They recognize that in order
to move forward on environmental and economic progress, it will not be enough
to simply focus on what is bad in the world and in the environment, we will
have to design, develop and implement the good; the next generation of
sustainable products and processes. This conference will be swimming in those
innovations! The best thing that will come out of this conference is the sense
of optimism for continuous improvement that our greatest Green Chemistry
innovations of today will be exceeded by the innovations when we convene again
next year.
Listen to another interview with Paul Anastas, courtesy of the Science and Society podcast here.
Do you live or work in California and have an opinion about Green Chemistry? California is looking for your input to make its recommendations to the Governor in July. Let them know what you think.
californiagreenchemistry.squarespace.com
Posted by: Shell Culp | April 11, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Did he pay his taxes?
Posted by: Lev | September 29, 2009 at 04:52 PM
I had no idea there was anyone deemed the name "Father of Green Chemistry" .... but I like it. :)
Posted by: Travis Gutierrez - Search Engine Optimization Services | October 09, 2009 at 03:38 AM
Great man!!! A founder of a whole industry branch!
Posted by: Online Pharmacies | November 04, 2009 at 07:08 AM
I never heard about anybody who named father of green chemistry..?
well like to know all this..!
Posted by: Term papers | November 05, 2009 at 06:00 AM