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Inventor of Green Catalysts Offers Solutions for Cleaning Toxins and Pollutants in the Environment

Dr. Terrence Collins to Offer Public Lecture on Growing Field of Green Chemistry

Berkeley, CA (Sept. 10, 2009)—Scientific findings identifying the hazards of synthetic chemicals in our air and water are driving a new field: green chemistry. “The most troubling health effects are associated with endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that may interfere with cellular development in humans and animals,” says professor Terry Collins, a champion in the field.

Collins, who has been recognized internationally for his work in creating a new class of oxidation catalysts that behave like oxidizing enzymes and can convert harmful pollutants in water into less toxic substances, will speak about the latest developments in green chemistry at a free public event on September 15 at UC Berkeley Extension: "Green Chemistry: Sustaining a High Technology Civilization."

"Understanding how some chemicals alter cellular development to better avoid these properties in new chemicals is a vital frontier for preventing disease and improving human health," says Collins, who is a strong advocate for change in public policy to help address toxic chemicals and develop safer substitutes.

Research by Collins’ group at Carnegie Mellon has shown that these oxidation catalysts have enormous potential to provide clean and safe alternatives to existing industrial practices and provide ways to remediate other pressing environmental problems that currently lack solutions. The catalysts have proven to be effective in decontaminating water of estrogenic compounds and specific drugs, pesticides, and other persistent pollutants; cleaning industrial wastewaters from the textile and pulp and paper industries; reducing sulfur-containing chemicals in fuels; and disinfecting water of hardy pathogens.

Professor Collins, the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry and Director of Carnegie Mellon’s Institute for Green Science, developed the first university course in green chemistry there in 1992.  A recipient of the 1998 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the EPA, Collins writes and lectures widely about the importance and promise of chemists turning their inventive talents towards eliminating hazards from chemical products and processes.

The free public program will take place from 6–8 pm on the UC Berkeley Campus at 105 Stanley Hall. For more information please visit extension.berkeley.edu/prog/public.html#2

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Communication and
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UC Berkeley Extension
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Berkeley, CA 94704-7000

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