Class 3: Identifying a Green Chemistry Project

Goals

1. Provide a structured interdisciplinary dialog among

the students and faculty.

2. Provide an application focus for the Green

Chemistry theory presented in the course.

3. Serve as the primary assessment method.

4. Contribute to green chemistry capacity.

• Start a new research project

• Publish a paper

• Provide public comment

• Influence Cal/Fed regulations

Weekly office

hour with each

other and

faculty.

“The real 'green revolution', in the

form of processes redesigned

from scratch and plants rebuilt

from the ground up, is only just

beginning.” –Erik Beckman

Project and Group Selection

3-5 student from 2-3 disciplines

1. What projects interest you most?

2. Do you have other project ideas?

3. Are there specific people you would like to work with? (Remember

that we are looking for interdisciplinary teams.)

Additional Project ideas or team organizing can be done on BSpace

Forum.

Send email with answers to marty_m@berkeley by midnight Friday

Timeline

1. Jan. 28th give preference and groups assigned

2. Feb. 9th Abstract

3. Feb 28th Key Questions and Annotate Biblography

4. March 18th Individual term-paper

5. April 27th Group deliverable

6. Reading week Poster/presentations with public

• Policy makers, journalists, and business leaders will be invited.

Sustainability of Solar PV’s

Single Crystal Silicon

Polycrystalline Silicon

CIGS

Copper indium gallium

(di)selenide Dye-sensitized solar cell

Green Oil Dispersants

1) Effective

2) Non-toxic

3) Promote Bio-degradation

of oil.

Project: Can Exposure Modeling Help

Us Rank Chemical Risks?

Mike Wilson

mpwilson@berkeley.edu

Problem statement

The role of exposure potential is

often under-recognized (or misused)

in health and environmental risk

assessment, chemical design

decision-making, industrial processes,

public policy, and regulation.

This can lead to misclassification of

hazardous chemicals. We need tools

to characterize exposure potential

that are transparent, robust and

parsimonious.

• Saturation Vapor Pressure Model

• Well-mixed Room Model with Constant Emission

• Well-mixed Room Model with Variable Emission

• Near-Field/Far Field Model with Constant Emission

• Near-Field/Far Field Model with Variable Emission

• Turbulent Eddy Diffusion Model with Constant Emission

Increasing

complexity

Mathematical exposure modeling approaches

Example: Well-mixed room with a constant emission rate

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 10 20 30 40 50

Time in minutes

Co

ncen

trati

on

in

mg

/m3

⋅+

−+

⋅+

−−

⋅+

= tV

Vk Q exp C t

V

Vk Q exp 1

Vk Q

G C(t) LL

L

0

In the Exposure Modeling project, we will:

• Gather data on physical-chemical properties for a set of about 200

developmental neurotoxicants (Grandjean and Landrigan (2006) The

Lancet 368 (9553) 2167-2178)

• Assign basic modeling assumptions

• Build simple spreadsheets and run at least two models

• Apply the models for the purpose of “ranking” the neurotoxicants for

exposure potential

• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the models

• Produce a white paper for review by exposure modeling experts

• If appropriate, make recommendations to DTSC and GRSP

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorder, mental

retardation, and cerebral palsy are common, costly, and can cause lifelong disability.

Their causes are mostly unknown. A few industrial chemicals are recognised causes of

neurodevelopmental disorders and subclinical brain dysfunction. Exposure to these

chemicals during early fetal development can cause brain injury at doses much lower

than those affecting adult brain function. Another 200 chemicals are known to cause

clinical neurotoxic effects in adults. (Grandjean and Landrigan, 2006).

New Chemistries with CO2 and CO32-

15

Candidate Student Project:

Regulation of PFC’s Under TSCA §6

.

Federal Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA), § 6:

“If the Administrator finds that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that . . . a

chemical substance . . . presents . . . an unreasonable risk of injury to health or

the environment, the Administrator shall by rule apply one or more of the

following requirements to such substance . . . to protect adequately against such

risk . . . “

� “Unreasonable risk” means cost-benefit test: risk of harm outweighs benefits

� Burden of Proof: assigned to EPA

� EPA has not tried to regulate a chemical by TSCA §6 Rule since 1990

16

Candidate Student Project:

Regulation of PFC’s Under TSCA §6

.

Question 1: Do you think EPA will be able to ban or restrict the use of PFC’s (for some or all uses) under its TSCA § 6(a)

authority?

� This Project will require:

(1) Understanding the CBA standard that EPA must meet under TSCA

§6(a) to regulate a chemical.

(2) Understanding why EPA failed in its efforts to regulate asbestos.

(1) Evaluating the the likelihood that PFC’s cause harm to human

health and the environment, their industrial utility, the availability of

alternatives and other factors.

���� This analysis should be suitable for filing as formal comments to EPA when EPA announces a decision on this issue.

17

Candidate Student Project:

Regulation of PFC’s Under TSCA §6

.

Question 2: In view of your answer to Question 1, does TSCA §6 lead to

the correct decision on regulating PFC’s? Explain why or why not.

���� Should the burden of proof be placed on EPA?

���� What factors should the decision-maker consider?

� How should the various factors be balanced?

� Based on current knowledge, how would you manage PFC’s?

physicochemical

properties

environmental fate

and transport

toxicology

& ecotoxicology

exposure assessment

biomonitoring

environmental monitoring

chemical use

within industry

global supply chains

professional applications

consumer market/products

ingredient

disclosure

waste & emissions

releases & inventoriesCASRN 116-66-5

identity

regulatory status

restrictions

classifications

Chemical Information

What information is most critical for the assessment of chemical safety and for the

design of safer chemicals?

Who should have access to what information?

What would an effective transparency system look like?

Many scientists share a common interest in sustainability. How could we benefit from

an open information commons?

What would an open science initiative for green chemistry look like?

PRIVATE INTERESTS

competition, trade secrets

PUBLIC INTERESTS

safety, disclosure, transparency

• Background:

– Purpose is to enable you to go inside a firm to see how its employees and management have handled a green

chemistry problem/initiative

• Identify a case

– Tony Kingsbury has offered to provide ideas, contacts at

Dow Chemical

– tkingsbury@haas.berkeley.edu, 643-6013, F414 Haas.

Green Chemistry from

Industry’s Perspective

Green Chemistry from Industry’s Perspective

• Key Actors/Concerns

– Firm’s own scientists and other staff

– It’s management

– Staff working for relevant other firms and organizations that were involved in case and/or have a perspective on your issue

• e.g. Suppliers, public health NGOs, consumer NGOs, universities, local communities,

– Relevant government regulators

Green Chemistry from Industry’s Perspective

• Focus of your report

– Analyze history of the green chemistry issue/project/problem

• Drivers

• Actors’ considerations, assumptions, beliefs

strategies

• Organizational and other resources available

• Key turning points

– Analyze process and results

Green Chemistry from Industry’s Perspective

• Alternative Report Formats

– Conventional Report

– Business Case

Semivolatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs)

� Defined by phys-chem characteristics (gas phase and condensed phase )

� Over 1,000 are high-production-volume (HPV) chemicals

� Ubiquitous environmental contaminants (indoor air) and people

� Many are known endocrine disruptors

� Not as well characterized or governed as other chemical classes

Chemical or Class Function Applications/sources

Phthalates Plasticizer PVC flooring, toys, cosmetics (fragrances),

building materials

Perfluorinated surfactants Stain/water repellant Food packaging, cookware, clothing, textiles

Brominated flame retardants Fire retardant Furniture, electronics

Bisphenol A Polymer Food can/bottle linings, hard plastic bottles,

thermal paper (receipts)

Triclosan Antimicrobial Toothpaste, hand/dish soaps

Polychlorinated Biphenyls Heat-transfer fluid Food contamination, floor coatings (past),

electronics

Pentachlorophenol Wood preservative Building materials

Organochlorine pesticides Pesticide Residuals from prior indoor application

What are the key determinants of exposure or hazard useful for informing

chemical design / product formulation?

What would a chemical look like that…

Doesn’t migrate from electronics, building materials, or packaging?

Isn’t taken up through dermal contact?

Doesn’t accumulate in food webs?

Doesn’t persist for years to decades in indoor environments?

Doesn’t decay to toxic byproducts?

How can products be…

Flexible without phthalates?

Stain resistant without fluorinated surfactants?

Flame retardant without halogenated compounds?

Stable without antioxidants?

Resistant to microbial degradation without fungicide and pesticides?

Appealing without reactive odorants?

How can risks be reduced through regulatory action or business practices?

Consider using ToxCast data for your assessments (see ToxPi project)

Semivolatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs)

Chemical Metrics

US EPA ToxCast program is doing high-throughput in vitro chemical testing

� Phase I: 309 chemicals in 500 rapid screens

� Phase II: 650 more chemicals

� ToxPi visually organizes test results

� Other metrics could be applied to data generated underToxCast

Chemical Metrics

Better tools are needed to assess “green-ness” to:� choose among chemical alternatives

� design safer substances

� identify and prioritize chemicals for regulatory or

business action

Starting from the concept of a ToxPi� Make a “GreenPi”: define the attributes of a green chemical

� Assess the ToxCast Phase I data on “green chemicals”-- could these attributes be

used to identify safer chemicals in general?

� Apply the ToxPi tool to a class of SVOCs using data from ToxCast Phase I

� Use ToxCast data and apply another metric (12 principles?) to assess chemicals

� Propose business or regulatory mechanisms for using ToxPi

Questions?

Time to ask questions and talk with faculty and

fellow students