Most consumer product manufacturers are not required to assess the safety of chemicals in their products, so this vast responsibility is left to government agencies.
"With the current costs of a full toxicological screen approaching $5 million, the government does not have the resources to screen each new chemical as it comes to market. This means there just isn't enough information about the potential health or environmental hazards of chemicals currently in production, and this lack of data is the FIRST of three main challenges cited as an obstacle to a comprehensive policy solution," says Lee Bishop and Mitch Anstey, authors of "Green Chemistry, Chemists Clean up Their Act" in Berkeley Science Review.
The SECOND is that most companies are not required to assume full responsibility for the health and environmental impacts of their products. This means that producers have little impetus to design safer chemicals or processes, and government agencies must wait until harmful effects are observed to take action instead of instituting preventative measures.
The THIRD obstacle is a lack of public and private investment in green chemistry research and education. Without investment in the chemicals and processes of the future, the field of green chemistry will be relegated to banning old harmful chemicals instead of creating new benign ones.
The solution being pursued at the University of California - Berkeley is multidisciplinary collaboration.
Staff and faculty from across campus have begun roundtable discussions under the auspices of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment towards the creation of a center for green chemistry at UC Berkeley--one that brings chemists, toxicologists, health scientists, public policy experts, and business experts to the same table.
Creating the center for green chemistry represents a crucial step towards solving the communication difficulties between its constituent disciplines.
The general sentiment in the department is that chemists and chemical engineers can provide the ultimate solutions to problems caused by toxic chemicals in the environment because they understand how these molecules are designed and produced in the first place and therefore are the most capable of improving them.
Not only will this work help the environment, but it will also provide chemists with fresh challenges to tackle in their research.
Where do we go from here?
The challenges posed by the principles of green chemistry cannot be addressed through legislation, business practices, or research alone. Our society and economy depend on chemicals that often pose hazards to ourselves and our environment. "Our world is becoming a chemical world, and it affects not only the environment but every person and natural resource we have," says Johnson.
If no green alternative to a given hazardous chemical or process exists, then one has to be created, which requires focused research with sustainability as an explicit goal.
Education for a green generation
Though the green chemistry movement at UC Berkeley is still in its early stages and its adherents varied in their approaches, everyone seems to agree that education is a central component of addressing the sustainability problem.
"If no green alternative to a given hazardous chemical or process exists, then one has to be created, which requires focused research with sustainability as an explicit goal. Creating a society that fosters that kind of research and its translation into economically viable products will require a population that is educated in the principles of green chemistry and other aspects of sustainability, conclude the authors of "Green Chemistry: Chemists Clean Up Their Act".
NOTE from the publisher: Because scientists are so wary about communicating with journalists, I thought it best that I excerpt from the article written by Bishop and Anstey, and try to maintain the integrity of their message. Please forgive me if my concern outweighs my scientific knowledge -- but I, too, believe it is important that we support better green chemistry knowledge and applications in both education and the commercial world.