Chemistry is often considered harmful to the environment. The history of the twentieth century is that chemicals tend to enter the environment, usually not intentionally. The bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in ecosystems is a good example. The original intention of these chemical applications is very good. However, over time, once a chemical substance enters the environment, dealing with its effects will be extremely expensive, and it is unlikely that action will be taken.

This remaining problem is a serious problem, not only for the environment, but also for the entire chemical field. There are many potential chemistry students who feel that they want to do something important for the environment, but they did not choose chemistry as their main subject. The number of students entering the chemistry major is steadily declining. If it is not for foreign students to come to the United States for chemistry education, many chemistry departments will be closed.

It seems that all bad examples are enough to cause behavior to change in the right direction. In many cases, behavior has changed, but overall, the relationship between chemistry and the environment does need to be addressed at the upstream level.
It is obvious from the UN's forecast that the population's demand for water resources will continue to rise. For the estimated population of 4 to 7 billion, will there be enough goods and services in addition to the supply of food and water? Will there be plastic bags? Will there be floors and ceilings? When this population growth equation is applied to products , Goods and services, and increasing living standards, it is connected with what the chemical industry must provide.

On the one hand, this is a growing market. On the other hand, if you continue to follow the path of "pollution first, clean up later", chemistry really can't help. Chemistry must play a role and provide some alternatives. Leapfrogging technology is necessary because when you look at population growth, the vast majority will occur in developing countries, not developed countries.

This is an opportunity to achieve a technological leap in the field of telecommunications like China, Thailand and India. Instead of investing in fixed phones, it invested all in mobile phones. Similar methods are being adopted in chip manufacturing and emerging industries. Western companies enter these countries with the latest environmental technology, and then set standards for local production. It doesn't always catch up immediately, but it does catch up.
The US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other stakeholders jointly sponsored the annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. Below are some award-winning examples that illustrate the relationship between chemistry and water. The examples given here focus on a holistic approach to water, rather than a chemical approach one by one. In general, green chemistry is applicable to problems outside the traditional chemical industry.

Oxidation Technologies-Chlorine Alternative
One of the environmental problems that many people are trying to solve is endocrine disorders and the combination of chemicals in the environment that have not been released. There are two problems, one is related to the actual chemicals that cause endocrine disorders, and the other is particularly related to chlorine. At present, about 70,000 kinds of organochlorine compounds can be detected in the environment. Most of them are not produced directly through the manufacturing process. Instead, most of them are produced by the combination of chlorine and other molecules in the environment, and these molecules create new chemical species. The safety of these new compounds has not been tested.

The effects of these endocrine disruptors on mammals and aquatic systems are largely unknown. The EPA also does not have enough budget to fully monitor this situation. As a result, a fairly large-scale ecological test is being carried out in real time. However, other issues that are important to the overall balance of sustainable development, such as industrial waste treatment, water conservation, marine environment, and agriculture in particular, can also be addressed.

For example, Terry Collins of Carnegie Mellon University has taken a broad and systematic approach to dealing with chlorine molecules in the environment. Because chlorine is mainly used for oxidation, he believes that this problem can be solved by looking for alternative oxidants.