UL Research Institutes’ Chemical Insights is a leading independent safety science organization with global reach. We advance our mission — working for a safer world — by conducting rigorous, unbiased research that identifies emerging risks and delivers science-driven solutions.
Since 1894, we’ve helped shape a safer future by uncovering risks to people and the planet. Today, our work focuses on three urgent priorities: building resilience for a sustainable future, advancing individual and societal health, and promoting safety at the human-digital interface.
UL Research Institutes’ Chemical Insights is dedicated to scientific research, publication, education, and outreach on environmental exposures resulting from technologies and practices, their impact on human health, and strategies for reducing health risks.
Chemical Insights houses four Centers with specialized laboratories to bring a full suite of exposure science, computational and environmental toxicology, and analytical chemistry approaches in pursuit of thoroughly investigating some of today’s most challenging problems. Some areas of research include:
- 3D printer emissions
- Air pollution exposure
- Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) emissions
- PFAS exposure
- Wildfires at the wildland urban interface (WUI)
Our work informs people about the chemicals present in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the products we interact with on a daily basis. We strive to provide objective research and resulting knowledge for improved practices, innovative product design, and changes that enable safer consumer goods and healthier environments.
The Center for Chemical Informatics & Screening
Our scientists develop rapid, integrated approaches for human health toxicity assessment to fill information gaps for data-poor chemicals, including computational models as well as laboratory-based high-throughput screens to estimate safe exposure levels and identify the biological processes potentially disrupted by these chemicals.
The Center for Exposure Science & Advanced Measurements
Our scientists utilize specialized exposure chambers and field sampling equipment to measure pollutants from consumer products, building materials, and environmental samples to examine potential exposure pathways. We then provide quantitative and qualitative determination of elemental and molecular species from a variety of environmental matrices using a suite of state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation.
The Center for Scientific Computing & Data Management
Our scientists and developers build online software tools that make all the chemical safety data collected by Chemical Insights available to the public and offer the ability to combine the information in specific ways to support different safety-related decisions.
The Center for Toxicology & Human Health
Our scientists employ a wide range of advanced instrumentation to assess the health risks from consumer products, characterize the health impacts from high-risk exposure events, and evaluate the origins of disease.
