diff --git a/src/dataset/pinecone_db_handler.py b/src/dataset/pinecone_db_handler.py
index 7ecef06..f5d7187 100644
--- a/src/dataset/pinecone_db_handler.py
+++ b/src/dataset/pinecone_db_handler.py
@@ -17,10 +17,8 @@ class PineconeDB:
     ):
         self.index_name = PINECONE_INDEX_NAME
         
-        PINECONE_API_KEY = os.getenv("PINECONE_API_KEY")
-        PINECONE_ENVIRONMENT = os.getenv("PINECONE_ENVIRONMENT")
-        assert PINECONE_API_KEY, "PINECONE_API_KEY environment variable not set."
-        assert PINECONE_ENVIRONMENT, "PINECONE_LOCATION environment variable not set."
+        PINECONE_API_KEY = os.environ["PINECONE_API_KEY"]
+        PINECONE_ENVIRONMENT = os.environ["PINECONE_ENVIRONMENT"]
         
         pinecone.init(
             api_key = PINECONE_API_KEY,
diff --git a/src/main.py b/src/main.py
index a38c918..73a79e7 100644
--- a/src/main.py
+++ b/src/main.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ else:
     raise Exception("'src/.env' not found. Rename the 'src/.env.example' file and fill in values.")
 
 import openai
-openai.api_key = os.environ.get('OPENAI_API_KEY')
+openai.api_key = os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
 
 import logging
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)