diff --git a/alembic/env.py b/alembic/env.py
index 516c8d6..8cc93ef 100644
--- a/alembic/env.py
+++ b/alembic/env.py
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 """Alembic environment configuration."""
 
 from logging.config import fileConfig
-from os import getenv as os_getenv
 
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
 from sqlalchemy.pool import NullPool
 
 from alembic import context
 from dds_glossary.model import Base
+from dds_glossary.settings import get_settings
 
 # this is the Alembic Config object, which provides
 # access to the values within the .ini file in use.
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@
 
 # add your model's MetaData object here
 # for 'autogenerate' support
+database_url = get_settings().DATABASE_URL.get_secret_value()
 target_metadata = Base.metadata
-from dds_glossary.database import DATABASE_URL
-config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", DATABASE_URL)
+config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", database_url)
 
 
 # other values from the config, defined by the needs of env.py,
diff --git a/dds_glossary/__init__.py b/dds_glossary/__init__.py
index da2ae75..1920098 100644
--- a/dds_glossary/__init__.py
+++ b/dds_glossary/__init__.py
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
-"""dds_glossary package."""
-
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
-
-__version__ = "0.1.0"
-
-__all__ = ["__version__"]
-
-load_dotenv()
+"""dds_glossary package."""
+
+__version__ = "0.1.0"
+
+__all__ = ["__version__"]
diff --git a/dds_glossary/auth.py b/dds_glossary/auth.py
index 7166b56..5bc5095 100644
--- a/dds_glossary/auth.py
+++ b/dds_glossary/auth.py
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 """Authentication utils for the dds_glossary package."""
 
 from http import HTTPStatus
-from os import getenv as os_getenv
 
 from fastapi import Depends, HTTPException
 from fastapi.security import APIKeyHeader
 
+from .settings import get_settings
+
 api_key_header = APIKeyHeader(name="X-API-Key")
 
 
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ def get_api_key(api_key: str = Depends(api_key_header)) -> dict[str, str]:
         HTTPException: If the API key is missing or invalid. Or if the API key
             environment variable is missing.
     """
-    correct_api_key: str | None = os_getenv("API_KEY")
+    correct_api_key: str | None = get_settings().API_KEY.get_secret_value()
     if correct_api_key is None or api_key != correct_api_key:
         raise HTTPException(
             status_code=HTTPStatus.FORBIDDEN,
diff --git a/dds_glossary/main.py b/dds_glossary/main.py
index c6ac063..b0e0052 100644
--- a/dds_glossary/main.py
+++ b/dds_glossary/main.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 """Main entry for the dds_glossary server."""
 
 import argparse
-from os import getenv as os_getenv
 
 import sentry_sdk
 import uvicorn
@@ -9,6 +8,7 @@
 from fastapi_versioning import VersionedFastAPI
 
 from .routes import router_non_versioned, router_versioned
+from .settings import get_settings
 
 
 def create_app() -> FastAPI:
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
         FastAPI: the application object
     """
     sentry_sdk.init(
-        dsn=os_getenv("SENTRY_DSN"),
+        dsn=get_settings().SENTRY_DSN.get_secret_value(),
         # Set traces_sample_rate to 1.0 to capture 100%
         # of transactions for performance monitoring.
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,
@@ -48,5 +48,5 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
     uvicorn.run(
         "dds_glossary.main:create_app",
         reload=args.f_reload,
-        host=os_getenv("HOST_IP", "127.0.0.1"),
+        host=get_settings().HOST_IP,
     )
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b916a01..23fc09a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "lxml",
     "owlready2",
     "psycopg",
-    "python-dotenv",
+    "pydantic_settings~=2.0",
     "sentry-sdk[fastapi]",
     "SQLAlchemy>=2.0.0",
     "sqlalchemy-utils",
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_auth.py b/tests/unit/test_auth.py
index 9c124f4..615c7b6 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_auth.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_auth.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from pytest import raises as pytest_raises
 
 from dds_glossary.auth import get_api_key
+from dds_glossary.settings import get_settings
 
 
 def _validate_error(exc_info: ExceptionInfo) -> None:
@@ -36,8 +37,7 @@ def test_get_api_key_invalid_key() -> None:
     _validate_error(exc_info)
 
 
-def test_get_api_key_valid_key(monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+def test_get_api_key_valid_key() -> None:
     """Test the get_api_key function with a valid key."""
-    api_key = "valid"
-    monkeypatch.setenv("API_KEY", api_key)
-    assert get_api_key(api_key="valid") == {"api_key": api_key}
+    api_key = get_settings().API_KEY.get_secret_value()
+    assert get_api_key(api_key=api_key) == {"api_key": api_key}
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_routes.py b/tests/unit/test_routes.py
index e0aade2..9644dc0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_routes.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_routes.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 from dds_glossary.model import Dataset, FailedDataset
 from dds_glossary.schema import InitDatasetsResponse, VersionResponse
+from dds_glossary.settings import get_settings
 
 
 def test_version(
@@ -53,9 +54,8 @@ def test_init_datasets_valid_key(client: TestClient, monkeypatch: MonkeyPatch) -
             failed_datasets=failed_datasets,
         ),
     )
-    api_key = "valid"
-    monkeypatch.setenv("API_KEY", api_key)
 
+    api_key = get_settings().API_KEY.get_secret_value()
     response = client.post("/latest/init_datasets", headers={"X-API-Key": api_key})
     assert response.status_code == HTTPStatus.OK
     assert response.headers["content-type"] == "application/json"