Adelina Vouthkova-Kostal leads ACSGCI Green Chemistry Conference Session

The fourth principle of Green Chemistry states that “chemical products should be designed to preserve efficacy of function while minimizing toxicity.” Strategies for rationally designing functional commercial chemicals that have minimal environmental and human health impacts are becoming the new paradigm in the development of novel commercial chemicals. Recent advances in mechanistic toxicology and computational chemistry provide the foundation for identifying key properties associated with minimal toxicological impacts of chemicals and materials. These sessions will provide a platform for discussing relevant research developments, such as approaches that mimic medicinal chemistry paradigms and ones that apply in silico simulations of chemical/biological reactivity to predict or minimize toxicity through optimization of chemical structure. They will also provide a platform for industry to discuss success stories of approaches to rational design of safer functional chemicals/materials as well as assessment of safer alternatives.

Expected participants/ contributors: industry representatives engaged in alternatives assessment and new product innovation, researchers engaged in developing tools/strategies for rational design of safer chemicals and regulatory agencies involved in similar efforts.

Organizers: Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, George Washington University; and Elaine Cohen Hubal, Deputy National Program Director, Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research, U.S. EPA