The Environmental Chemistry Program at Vassar College Paul C. Chrostowskil Vassar College, Poughkeepsie. NY 12601
Environmental chemistry is rapidly gaining acceptance as a self-contained branch of chemistry in a fashion similar to that of biochemi~try30 years ago. The key role that environmental chemists are recognized as playing at the sciencesocietal interface can best be illustrated by a statement made by Environmental Protection Agency Hazardous Waste Program Administrator, Hugh Kaufmann, who, when asked what reforms he would undertake a t EPA if given the chance, stated ( I ) that he would first replace the regional program administrators with chemists. With these facts in mind and mnsiderine the national need for studies in ao~liedchemistrv (Z),the ~ & a rCollege Chemistry ~ e p a r t m e ndecided t that environmental chemistrv was an area in which to diversifv its - - ~ curriculum, and the author was retained to implement such a program. After two years of development and operation, the program consists of undergraduate- and graduate-level coursework in the field of environmental chemistry, a research program, and a program of involvement with environmental problems in the Mid-Hudson area. Students receive an opportuity to learn to apply chemistry to problems of social significance, gain an understanding of the nature of interdisciplinary research, and are better prepared to visualize the ramifications of science and technology on society. On the technical level, students are exposed to analytical treatments of large and complex systems, interactions of chemistry with physical and biological processes, and development of the expertise necessary for field, laboratory, and theoretical treatment of the chemistry of the environment. Environmental chemistry as a course in the curriculum itself is not a new topic. In 1974, Gordon (3)addressed the role of chemistry departments in the environmental education of chemists. There are numerous courses a t many levels, from environmental analysis for non-science majors ( 4 ) to applied chemistry in a pollution control context (5) to the more common~gradu&ecourses, such as the course in environmental fate of pollutants developed by I. H. Suffet a t Drexel University (6); The Vassar program is unique in several respects: it is an integrated element of the curriculum rather than an individual course; it has heen designed with Gordon's dictate (3) that students emerge with a clear identity as chemists in mind, and it functions a t several levels parallel to the traditional disciplines. ~
Lecture Courses In Environmental Chemistry The first level of the program centers around the course in environmental chemistry principles. This consists of an application of chemical principles to the study of natural environments (chemical ecology) and anthropogenic intrusions (pollution). Topics covered include biogeochemical cycles, water and water pollution, chemistry of potable water and wastewater treatment, air pollution including photochemical smog, acid rain, and effects of human activities on the global climate, the role of soil, solid and hazardous wastes, chem~cd toxicology including chemical carcinogenesis, and methods of analvsis of environmental nollotion. Phvsicallv. ? .the course consis& of lectures, field work, site visits, A d demonstrations utilized within a three-contact-hour-per-week framework. The prerequisities for the course have been general chemistry and sophomore standing as a natural science major; however, this is being modified to include the first semester of organic
chemistry in accordance with an emphasis in the current practice of environmental chemistry on hazardous organic materials. Enrollment has been limited to 12 students, a group size that ran he easily accommudated on field trips. For the two years that the c o k e has heen taught, the cl& has been 05.ersubscribed such that some students wishing to take the course could not be admitted. The majority of the students have been chemistry or biology majors. The emphasis in class and on examinations is on amathematical and physical approach stressing applications of stoichiometry, kinetics, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry to environmental systems. The physical emphasis aids in limiting class size by making the course somewhat unattractive to those without good preparation. A- term is reouired in this course. which is a new ex~ - - - naner - ~ perience for many &emistry majors whb are primarily accustomed to dealine" onlv " with ouantitative examinations. In the paper, students are asked tdformulate a hypothesis about a current environmental orohlem and investigate - it using. chemical principles. Topics (student initiated, faculty approved) have ranged from computer modeling of dissolved oxygen profiles in ariver to the effects of acid rainand heavy metals on fish to orooosine structure-activity relationships for biodegradabiliiy. '?he h k e s t pedagogical problem in this reeard has been convincine students that a literature review i s i o t acceptable and thatihe primary purpose of the paper is to eain an aooreciation for environmental prohlem-solving rath;r than a'digest of facts. For a text, ana ah an's ''~nv; ronmental Chemistry" (7) has been used and has received good reviews from the students. The second level of the woeram centers around the course in advanced environmenk chimistry. In thii course, physical and chemical mechanisms for delineating the fates of pollutants are theoretically defined and applied to model environmental svstems. Consideration is also given to characterr ~natural systems and sulficient microbial izing the c h e t n i ~ tof hiochemistrv such that biodegradation, toxicity, and metabolism of poll&nts may be undkrstood. Topics covered include thermodvnamics and equilibria of complex systems, chemodpamiek, photochemiial reaction m&hanisms, first- and second-order. Monod and photochemical kinetics, redox chemistry in natural waters, and chemical reactions in the air, soil, and water environments. The prerequisites for the course are physical cchmistry and a computer languaae. The student clientele has been almost entireiy from the chemistry major group, probably due to the heavy use of physical chemistry. Details of the course have been discussed elsewhere (8). Currently a t Vassar, there is an emphasis on enhanced technological literacy within the liberal arts context. One path by which this emphasis has been advanced is through increased use of cornputen. Students in the advanced course use computers in three modes in conjunction with the course term pap&. First, the student does computer-based literature search through Chemical Abstracts for the pollutant the student has selected to study. This is compared to a manual
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Volume 62 Number 2
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literature search showing the strong and weak points of both techniques. Second, the student uses an interactive mathematical model of environmental fates of pollutants (9)which allows a definitive statement concerning the ultimate sink of a compound to he made if sufficient physical properties and rate constants are known. Last, the student writes the paper on a word processor. This last mode allows the instructor to make revisions to the paper before it is handed in as a final draft, thus subjecting the student to interaction with an editorial process. The text for the course is Tinsley's "Chemical Concepts in Pollutant Behavior" (10).A considerable amount of supplementary material has been necessary due to the lack of a good text quantitatively treating fate of pollutants and mathematical modeling of the process. Several texts have been rejected due to student perceived philosophical or political biases. Supplements have included Croshy's excellent overview (11) and portions of several EPA documents (12).This course is the point in the curriculum where topics from chemical engineering science are introduced. The emphasis on equilibrium and kinetics from the Principles course is expanded to include transport properties of materials, mass transfer, heat transfer, elementary fluid dynamics, process dynamics, and the unit operations concept. The chemistry curriculum a t Vassar includes a Master of Arts program, currently with six enrollees. Curricular content is normally tailored to the interests and goals of the students involved. Graduate courses are also open to exceptional seniors with departmental permission. Two special topics environmental chemistry graduate courses have heen offered thus far: environmental analysis and water chemistry. These courses have involved a lahoratory as well as a lecture component with topics such as sampling and isolation techniques in the analytical course and carbonate equilibria in the water chemistry course. Other subjects such as the chemistry of water treatment will he introduced if student demand exists. Laboratory Courses in Environmental Chemistry The focus of the environmental chemistry lahoratory component is the advanced laboratory course, a structured, graded experience designed to acquaint students with the laboratory techniques that are especially applicable to environmental chemistry and usually taken concurrently with the advanced lecture course. Since an adequate laboratory manual was not available, a series of experiments had to he designed for this course. They will he reported on in detail in a future publication. Enrollment is typically two or three students per semester. Marr and Cresser's "Environmental Chemical Analysis" (13)is used as a text to supplement handouts concerning specific experiments. Not only are students exposed to environmental principles, hut also they gain experience in instrumental analysis and quantitative techniques.
In addition to the structured laboratow work. environmental rhemisrry students are encouraged-to undkrtake research at all levels. This research is either as part of an ongoing projecr as suggested by the instructor or, more rarely, student initiated. Some senior theses in environmental rhemistrv have been: evaluation of point:of-use water treatment devices, mathematical modeling of the fate and risk assessment of an organophosphate pesticide, and use of diffused aeration to remove volatile organic compounds from water. At the intermediate research level, projects have involved application of International Humic Substance Societv ext k t i o n techniques to Vassar Farm soil and studies of kGetics and mechanisms of aqueous oxidations of ~ollutants.Joint projects with the hiol& department at the undergraduate level have included the effects of food processinr! on vitamin C and enzyme induction in rats exposed to phinoxy herhicides.
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Current and Future Plans For the 1983-84 academic year, a project focusing on polychlorinated biphenyls as pollutant paradigms is underway. This topic and some attendant local problems, such as dredging of PCB from the Hudson River, will he integrated as a theme into all course components. Future plans g a y include branching out into interdisciplinaw. programs or in. . troducing a freshman level course. Acknowledgment Thanks to Mel Suffet a t DrexeI and Vassar students L. Pearsall, E. Gottschlich, L. Keefe, T. Callahan, I. Phillips, T. Sternbach, and L. Verge. Literature Cited (1) Kaufmann, H., "The EPA and Environment Under Siwe,"lecture. Vasaar CoUse, April 22, 1982. (2) Mount. R A,, "The Iaduatrid Chemist and the American ~ b e m i cSmiety,.'ACS, ~l Washington, DC, 1980. (3) Gordon, G.E.,J. CHEM. EDUC..51,769 (1974). ( 4 ) Stephenuck, S. J..J CHEM. E~~c..S2,795 (1975). (5) %U, N J ,J.CHEM. EDUC.,59,292 11982). IS) Suffet. I. H.."Fate of Pollutant. in the Air and Water Environments," Wiley l o w science, New Y01k. 1977. (7) Manshan. S. E., '"Environmental Chemistly,"3rd ed., Willard Grant Presa, Bosun.
(11) Crosby, D. G..Enuimn. Tor. Cham., 1,1(1982). (12) Smith. J. H.. et el., "EnwanmentalPathwap of SeleMd Chemicals in Freshruatcr Systems,"EPA-W-77-113,1911.
1131 M m ,I. L.,and C-er.M.
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S.,"Envimmental Chemical Analyaia,"Chapman&Hall,
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The Division of Chemical Education is the publisher of "iterations: Computing in the Journal of Chemical Education" Comwter Series. edited hv John W. Moore. the current editor of the JOURNAL'S hi first 16 artlrlrs f k the Computer Serics together with n down more full-lenzthderrriptionsof computer applications fnm the 1979through April 1981 irsursoftheJOURNALarecontained in thisvolume. It berms w i l h n n intnrdurtim to computers,educational applications, and sources of materials. Also included are a thorough treatment of computer-assisted instruction,computer graphics,microcomputers and desktop computers,simulation and data analysis,computers and testing, and information storage and retrieval. Applications of poeketcaleulators,use ofcomputers in physical and organic chemistry as well as introductory courses, a wide variety of short descriptionsof specific computer programs, and s bibliography that from 1959 through 1980 have been gathered into this lists all computer-related articles that have appeared in the JOURNAL one eamorehensive reference. ~ h i paperhack b is availihle postpaid for 512.50 US, S13.50 Fureign. Address prepa~dorders toSuharriptim and Book Order Ikpartmmt, Journal of Chemiral Education. 20th and Nurthamptm Streets, Easton, Pennsylvania 18042.
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