Environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology: in greater demand than ever.
Environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology have been losing support, resources, and recognition at universities for many years. What are the possible causes of this process? A first problem may be that the need for research and teaching in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology is no longer seen because chemical pollution problems are considered as largely solved. Second, environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology may be seen as fields dominated by routine work and where there are not many interesting research questions left. A third part of the problem may be that other environmental impacts such as climate change are given higher priority than chemical pollution problems. Here, several cases are presented that illustrate the great demand for innovative research and teaching in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology. It is crucial that environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology are rooted in academic science and are provided with sufficient equipment, resources, and prospects for development.
ETH Zürich, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland ; Masaryk University, RECETOX, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
Martin
M
Scheringer
Ecotoxicology; Environmental chemistry; Hazard assessment; Risk assessment