Articles on Green Chemistry and:
our HealthBisphenol A
our WorldMargaret Kerr Goes to Thailand
our EducationSuffolk University Wins Award
our GovernmentCA Green Chemistry Initiative
our HomeAsk Amy
plus:
letter from the Director
goings on
This Issues's Puzzle
Side Notes
About Amy
Amy Cannon holds the world’s first Ph.D. in green chemistry from the University of Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Saint Anselm College and has worked at the University of Massachusetts Lowell as an Assistant Professor of Green Chemistry. She is currently a faculty member and the coordinator of the new Green Chemistry program at Cambridge College. Amy’s industrial experience includes working as an analytical chemist for the Gillette Company and as a scientist for Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials. She directed the outreach and community education efforts at the Center for Green Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Amy was awarded the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award in Green Chemistry in 2004 for her work on titanium dioxide semiconductors and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells. Her interests are in green chemistry education and research around safer green chemistry alternative technologies. Amy serves on the Editorial board of the new journal Green Chemistry: Letters and Reviews.
letter from the director
What a wonderful time to be a scientist! We are finally beginning to see a shift in today’s society towards greener practices and greener products. It is, actually, becoming “easier to be green”. Products are appearing on the shelves that are safer alternatives than their traditional counterparts. Consumers are choosing these safe alternatives and are making changes in how they purchase products; energy efficiency is becoming a priority in the purchase of a new car; building materials are being closely considered as houses are built or re-designed; and consumers are reaching for greener choices on the supermarket shelves. Within the United States, states such as California, Michigan and Maine are leading the way at purging harmful chemicals from our products and promoting greener policies that promote safe products in the marketplace. Globally, Canada recently banned the use of BPA (bis-phenol A), a potential endocrine disruptor, in plastic bottles. Nalgene Outdoor concurrently announced they will no longer produce polycarbonate plastics that contain BPA. This shift in focus, we believe, reflects a change in thinking that will hopefully lead to a sustainable future.
Despite the shift, there is much more work to be done. Green Chemistry is the very science of designing safer chemical products and processes. All of the products we use in our daily lives were once in the hands of a chemist; chemistry is a part of essentially everything we touch and use. As the “central science”, chemistry is an essential piece to a sustainable future. Green chemistry is targeted at inventing safer alternatives where they do not yet exist. It is an innovative science and a very pro-active, positive approach to chemistry. At Beyond Benign, we find the Green Chemistry context a highly effective tool for motivating students to study science and for helping professionals focus on innovative solutions to the problems they face.
This newsletter, Benign Bylines, was created as an outlet for us to speak about what is happening in the Green Chemistry community and to promote the wonderful things that are happening regionally and globally. We hope to be one piece that brings awareness of these topics to the greater community, educators and professionals as our global society shifts towards sustainable and greener practices.