A new case study on a contaminated Massachusetts site provides actionable information and customizable resources for chemistry educators and serves as a springboard for broader adoption of green chemistry practices in the industry. Beyond Benign and MIT Superfund Research Program (MIT SRP) worked together to develop a case study based on the Olin Chemical Superfund Site, one of more than 1,300 federally designated toxic waste sites across the United States.
The case study is designed for use in introductory-level college chemistry courses, especially those in the network of academic partners that Beyond Benign has built through the Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) program. The GCC program includes more than 190 academic institutions around the world that are committed to transforming the teaching and practice of chemistry at their institutions.
GCC participating institutions commit to four student learning objectives, one of which is finding ways to bring toxicology into their teaching to strengthen chemists’ design skills and broaden their understanding of how to design chemical products with reduced hazards and impacts — an essential component of green chemistry.
“By understanding the history of the chemical industry and the impacts on hazardous chemicals within communities, it can provide us a better perspective to understand the necessity of the industry to shift towards greener, more sustainable chemistry,” says Amy Cannon, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Benign.
The Olin Chemical Superfund Site case study module introduces students to the U.S. EPA’s Superfund Program, allowing them to better understand the history of the chemical industry. In addition, the resource delves into the toxicology associated with the chemicals released into the environment and helps students learn about green chemistry and related innovations that eliminate the use of certain types of chemicals.
“This module is a wonderful opportunity to understand the historical impacts of the chemical industry, what it takes to clean up past mistakes, and also the importance of approaching chemistry through a green and sustainable lens,” says Monica Soma Hensley, Higher Education Content Manager at Beyond Benign.
The action-oriented case study provides guidance so educators can create resources based on Superfund sites in their regions, providing additional relevance for students and connecting them with their local communities.
The case study, “The Olin Chemical Superfund Site,” complements and expands on Toxicology for Chemists, a first-of-its-kind, open-access curriculum that Beyond Benign launched in August 2022 with the support of faculty members from GCC signing institutions, industry, nonprofits, and governmental toxicology experts.
A small team of Beyond Benign staff and faculty partners worked with MIT SRP staff member Kathleen Vandiver and trainees Weixi Kang, Barathkumar Baskaran, and Haosheng Feng to develop the case study, which was funded by a grant from MIT SRP. Beyond Benign faculty partners — Doug Raynie, Professor Emeritus at South Dakota State University (an inaugural GCC signatory), and Nesta Bortey-Sam, Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh — served as educational content developers for the project. This collaboration between educators and Beyond Benign deepens knowledge and awareness of green chemistry practices and provides learning opportunities for the GCC community.
Educators from GCC-signing institutions can learn more about the Superfund site case study during a workshop from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET Oct. 11. Register now.
Case Study Offers Real-World Tool for Chemistry Educators
Raynie says the case study elevates the concept of Superfund from a historical government reaction to environmental issues to a living, in-progress solution to a toxic waste situation impacting a real community. It’s an educational tool as well as a broader call to action for the chemical industry, he says. “In developing this case study, I gained a renewed appreciation for the role of a host of stakeholders in creating awareness and developing solutions for the common good,” he says.
Each team member contributed knowledge and perspective to the case study development. Raynie pulled from his decade of teaching toxicology to chemistry and biochemistry majors and his interest in green chemistry, while Bortey-Sam tapped into his expertise in environmental toxicology. “In developing our case study outline, we addressed items missing from many chemical toxicology courses and offered content to reinforce other toxicology topics,” Raynie says.
While the case study focuses on the Olin Superfund Site, its design aims to provide educators with a real-world application of toxicology topics and lower the barrier to introducing green chemistry and toxicology in the chemistry curriculum.
Raynie says the case study’s four-module structure provides flexibility for educators. “With this approach, the case study can be used as a capstone in a chemical toxicology course or to illustrate selected content in any number of stand-alone chemistry courses,” he says. “The case study could even be used in a special topics course to demonstrate the interaction of science and society.”
MIT SRP Advances Green Chemistry Innovations and Collaboration to Protect Public Health
The MIT SRP was created in response to a childhood cancer cluster near the Olin Superfund Site in Wilmington, Massachusetts. MIT SRP Director Bevin Engelward says the cancer cluster is thought to have been caused by exposure to chemical waste that leached into drinking water from a chemical production plant.
Engelward said the MIT SRP brings together scientists and engineers to:
- help to assess the health effects of contaminants,
- create methods to predict the consequences of exposures,
- make sensors for contaminants, and
- create technology to remove contaminants from drinking water.
Through her team’s work at MIT SRP, Engelward has seen the importance and promise of green chemistry. “One of the important things that the MIT team does is to find ways to learn from the past so that we can prevent problems such as that of the Olin Chemical Superfund Site,” she says. “It’s best to take care at the time of chemical production to avoid the creation of dangerous chemical waste. Doing so will help to ensure that people will never again suffer from the health consequences of chemicals in our environment.”
The collaboration between MIT SRP and Beyond Beyond is an important partnership for several reasons, Engelward says. “We realized right away that we think alike and have a shared mission, which is to protect human health from the effects of hazardous chemicals,” she says. “We were very happy that the Beyond Benign team was willing to develop a case study based on the contamination problem in Wilmington, because it is a way for us to contribute to education that will help to prevent dangerous exposures in the future.”
Engelward says MIT SRP trainees are developing new technologies and performing health assessment studies that reinforce the importance of green chemistry. Examples of their work include creating a sensor that can detect the contaminant N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in water via a colorimetric assay and creating new devices for destroying NDMA in drinking water.
Through workshops, visits from public health officials, and other enrichment activities, MIT SRP trainees build awareness about environmental health. “All students learn about the Olin Superfund Site and the tragedy that can unfold when chemical waste is carelessly dumped into sandy pits adjacent to the chemical plant,” Engelward says. “Since research areas stretch from biology, to chemistry, to civil and environmental engineering, students learn how cross-disciplinary collaboration is critical for addressing the complexities of environmental contamination and the ways that we address those problems.”
How to get involved:
- If you are an educator from a Green Chemistry Commitment-signing institution, join a workshop on Oct. 11 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT to learn more about the Superfund case study and how to effectively implement it in your course.
- Subscribe to Beyond Benign’s newsletter to get green chemistry news, resources, and inspiration delivered to your inbox monthly.
- Connect with Doug Raynie and Nesta Bortey-Sam in the GCTLC platform to keep up with their work.
