Grants Offered For Safer Chemicals

EPA and NSF are offering joint grants for research to support development of chemicals that are safer for people and the environment than are currently available compounds. One grant solicitation is for the design of safe and sustainable chemicals and procedures for their synthesis. The results of this area of research are expected to minimize hazards inherent from a chemical’s structure and intended use as well as from its synthesis, production, reuse, and disposal. A second solicitation is for systems- and molecular-level assessment of the impacts of substances, including nanomaterials, from the time they are manufactured through their disposal. This research is anticipated to provide tools for predicting environmental and health impacts of chemical manufacture and use. For both of these solicitations combined, EPA and NSF will provide up to 10 grants, together worth up to $32 million, for groups of two or more researchers working in transdisciplinary fields. Applications, available via epa.gov/ncer/rfa, are due by March 18.