The Manukau, a harbor where the introduction of high quality water treatment has dramatically revitalized the aquatic ecosphere.
Science Serving Sustainability
*Related articles: Sudoc, CMU Mellon College of Science
The Institute for Green Science, led by Terry Collins, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry, has been established as a research, education and entrepreneurial development center in which a holistic approach to green or sustainability science is being developed. The technical research programs evolve around the scientific and technological development of TAML oxidant activators, which are extensively patented, trademarked and undergoing commercialization.
The Institute is dedicated to the intellectual growth and technical education of a new generation of ethically aware professionals who understand and practice science in the pursuit of sustainability — from the molecular level on up.
Learn more about the Institute for Green Science
TAML® Activators are the first, highly effective, full functional, small molecule mimics of oxidizing enzymes and are the foundation of IGS technical research into design, mechanisms of action and applications.
Publications of the IGS Director, Terry Collins
A new course at Carnegie Mellon University dives into the connections between the Earth's water, air, land and life
"Environmental Systems on a Changing Planet" explores how solar and biochemical energy moves through the Earth's interconnected systems, recycling nutrients; how complex environmental systems function to produce critical resources such as food, water and materials; and how human activities interfere with and impair environmental systems in the Anthropocene geological epoch. Students that want to go into more technical science and engineering depth are invited to enroll in a supplementary 3-unit course taken together with this course.
Science and Sustainability Archives & Highlights
Introducing Pete Myers (in his own words): the Conductor of the Global Endocrine Disruption Orchestra
Bisphenol A and Endocrine Disruption: Mechanisms for Low-Dose Effects and Non-Monotonic Dose Responses - My Personal Journey of Discovery
Frederick vom Saal
Division of Biological Sciences
University of Missouri-Columbia, USA
Undergraduate Sonja Michaluk combines a passion for protecting aquatic life, majors in biology, statistics and machine learning with research on TAML catalysts.
Sudoc Wins Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award
Mamavation helps mothers to protect their families from toxic chemicals. Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry and IGS Director, Terry Collins, with Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and IGS Colleague/Collaborator, Pete Myers, along with Professor Scott Belcher of NC State University, and Linda Birnbaum, Scientist Emeritus and Former Director of NIEHS and NTP and Scholar in Residence at Duke University, advised Mamavation on the chemistry, analysis and biochemistry of forever PFAS compounds for its report on the occurrence of these forever compounds in brand-identified store-bought organic pasta sauce, cooking oils, toilet paper and dental floss.
Two former IGS graduate students start academic positions in 2021:
- Genoa Warner, Ph.D. (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
- L.S. Shen, Ph.D. (University of Twente)
Professor Collins speaks at the 2021 Plastic Health Summit in Amsterdam on the unsustainable culture of the chemical enterprise and on elements of the pathway toward a sustainable chemical enterprise.
Transformative Catalysis Purifies Municipal Wastewater of Micropollutants
TAML®/peroxide offers a new approach for reducing micropollutants in municipal wastewater that is easily technically competitive with ozone and much easier to practice. The paper highlights the extraordinary potential of the TAML®-opened field of sustainable ultra-dilute oxidation catalysis (SUDOC).
Legacy Lectures developed in Terry Collins’ Class Chemistry and Sustainability
Learn about the lives, careers, passions, and general excellence of the Knights and Dames Champion of Sustainability in a series of powerful lectures from leaders of endocrine disruption science.
Strategic Thinking for Building a Sustainable Chemical Enterprise
Professor Collins speaks to the Yale University Green Chemistry Interest Group on the three decade history of the field of green chemistry.
Europe is Leading the World in Trying to Build a Sustainable Chemical Enterprise—Strategies and Warnings for Success
Professor Collins speaks on Putting the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) into action: Challenges and Opportunities for Food Contact Materials (FCMs).
Some Everyday-Everywhere Chemicals Are Rapidly Sterilizing our Children and Grandchildren
Learn why our civilization must RAPIDLY reduce and eliminate most commercial endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) through IGS organized webinars andd mini-symposia on the relationships between EDCs and precipitously declining fertility featuring Prof. Shanna Swan, authoress of Count Down—the definitive book on EDC perils to human reproduction—and Prof. Tyrone Hayes, the leading authority on EDC perils to amphibian reproduction.
Western Green Chemistry Has Mostly Avoided the Most Perilous Chemical Challenges of Sustainability
Terry Collins interviewed by Frank von Hippel on Science History Podcasts (April 10, 2020).
December 15, 2021: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) re-evaluated the risks of bisphenol A (BPA) in food and proposes to considerably lower the tolerable daily intake (TDI) compared to its previous assessment in 2015—lower by a factor of 100,000. Read more
Webinars:
Webinar discussing new research published on July 16, 2020 showing that the safe dose of Bisphenol A (BPA) in humans is thousands of times lower than the safe-dose standard used by regulatory agencies.
A panel discusses peer-reviewed studies from independent researchers in the large national CLARITY-BPA study (Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on BPA Toxicity) that found statistically significant adverse effects in rodents associated with low level exposure to bisphenol A