Designing for a Green Chemistry Future

Systems thinking should be central to designing new chemicals.

The conventional approach to designing new chemicals is linear, with a laser focus on the desired function, such as waterproofing or killing insects. Little if any attention goes to other aspects of impact over the chemical’s life, such as toxic exposures to workers producing the chemical, the amount and nature of waste produced, and the health risks associated with use. This inattention to unintended implications has produced some big problems over the years. Witness past and current challenges with the pesticide DDT’s unintended adverse impacts on birds, and PFAS’s current contamination of drinking water around the world.

To avoid such harmful unintended consequences, chemists and chemical...