对于想要了解世界如何运转的人们来说，环境化学是一门学科。环境化学是化学的公众友好面孔之一，其基于研究的决策对我们所有人都产生了巨大影响。您可能会认为环境化学主要是关于污染的，但实际上，它是想要了解世界运转方式的人们的主题。环境化学与空气，水，土壤和沉积物中化学物质（天然或人造）的行为有关。这是一个以高级分析化学为中心的重要科学学科交叉学科的交叉学科领域。它要求了解许多学科领域的基本原理，包括有机化学，土壤科学，生物化学，毒理学和生态学。
The MChem degree is a 5 year programme accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and leading to the professional qualification of Chartered Chemist. Environmental Chemistry involves the study of the effects that chemicals have on the air, water and soil and how they impact the environment and human health. Environmental Chemists are therefore often the more public-facing chemists, as the research they conduct helps inform decisions that affect all of us. <br>You may think that Environmental Chemistry is mostly about pollution, but really it is a subject for people who want to understand how the world works. That is, in order to understand macroscopic processes in the environment (eg why are polar bears contaminated with mercury), we have to focus on the molecular level.<br>Environmental Chemistry is concerned with the behaviour of chemicals (natural or man-made) in air, water, soils and sediments. It is an interdisciplinary field at the crossroads of important scientific subjects centred around advanced analytical chemistry. It requires knowledge of fundamental principles of many subject areas, including organic chemistry, soil science, biochemistry, toxicology and ecology. You will learn about the chemistry of organic and inorganic compounds, whether they are produced on purpose or generated as by-products of industrial processes, and about their reactivity and their interactions with living systems.<br>The skills and training of the Environmental Chemistry programme mean that that graduates have excellent job prospects. For example, a BSc graduate would be well qualified to work for SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency), for a water or energy company to be responsible for environmental monitoring of the quality of water and industrial processes, or alternatively, as a chemist in a forensic laboratory, where well developed interdisciplinary skills and a high level of analytical understanding are required.