The business case for identifying and eliminating hazardous chemicals

Chemical contamination is an incredibly serious problem impacting human health. At least two million people die every year due to chemical contact. Millions more suffer lifelong injuries such as brain damage, reproductive problems, allergies, and asthma. Chemical pollution also threatens the healthy functioning of the world’s ecosystems.

There are more than 40,000 intentionally produced chemical substances in commerce, with many more substances generated as unintentional by-products of industrial systems. Synthetic chemicals pervade the vegetables and meat we eat, the water we drink and swim in, the air we breathe. They are also present in many everyday products in our homes (e.g. cleaning agents, pest control products, carpeting, plastic toys).

Not all synthetic chemicals are toxic, and regulatory systems generally deliver safe outcomes. Nonetheless, the science underpinning conclusions of safety about substances in commerce does shift (e.g. DDT in the 1960s; BPA and PFAS more recently) and regulators are increasingly challenged. Data about the health and environmental effects of most substances is by and large absent.

Target 3.9 within SDG 3 aims to substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals as well as the chemical contamination in our air, water and soil.

I study innovation and science commercialisation as they happen in real time. My research focuses on new technologies for chemicals management. I undertake engaged innovation research, including with regulators at Health Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. We embed postdoctoral research fellows and PhD students into inventing teams of natural scientists, engineers and biomedical researchers who are developing new technologies for chemical risk assessment.

The scientists I collaborate with in Canada are working on a leading-edge genomics-based technology – EcoToxChips – to quickly test for toxicity and at low cost. Their toxicity testing is conducted more ethically than incumbent methods as it does not involve animal deaths.

I and other Business School researchers mobilise knowledge about innovation and entrepreneurship in a timely manner, to help the technical experts in the team to stay on track and focused. Sometimes their initial vision can be too ambitious, involving multiple use cases for the technology. We introduce a design thinking mindset and methodology to projects. Taking a customer focus puts the end users at the core of technology development, testing and validation. The EcoToxChip, for example, can be used by business, regulators and academics to identify, prioritise and manage environmental chemicals in species and their environments.

There is a strong business case for improved chemicals management. Air pollution alone costs $8.1 trillion annually, 6.1 percent of global GDP. For individual companies, managing the health and environmental risks of chemicals in their supply chains, production processes, and end products is good business because these can become legal and reputational risks to companies through a process termed ‘risk translation’. Superior chemicals management is therefore a form of insurance. And it is responsible. The ultimate goal is to have human bodies and ecosystems free of toxic substances.

Scientists are working hard on these problems – but there are no environmental or health benefits from their work until these technologies are commercialised and implemented at scale. This is where business school research adds value.

Business schools are an under-mobilised resource that could be better leveraged to help deliver superior commercialization outcomes quicker. And unlike private consultants, academics don’t hoard the information – we publish lessons learnt in publicly available journals. We bring an academic mission to innovation and entrepreneurship.

I’d like to see more people doing engaged innovation research, and I’d love to see more government funding to build multidisciplinary teams to get promising inventions out of the lab and into society sooner. Business school research can help universities to deliver more positive impact, sooner.

Resources