Title : Green Analytical Chemistry Metrics and Life-Cycle Assessment Approach to Analytical Method Development
Abstract:
The environmental consequences of chemical and analytical research, particularly the use and production of toxic reagents and solvents, have sparked widespread concern. Accordingly, the assessment of analytical techniques' greenness is becoming increasingly relevant in order to evaluate their environmental impact and reveal their validity in establishing sustainable strategies. Therefore, this study will address the state of knowledge of various assessment metric tools adopted for evaluating the greenness profile. Green metric approaches such as the National Environmental Method Index (NEMI), Assessment of Green Profile established by Raynie & Driver, analytical Eco-Scale, HPLC-Environmental Assessment Tool (HPLC-EAT), Analytical Method Volume Intensity (AMVI), Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI), Complementary green analytical procedure index (Complex GAPI), Analytical Method Greenness Score (AMGS) Calculator, Analytical Greenness Metric (AGREE), and other tools; will be investigated. All the above metrics will be discussed and compared in terms of their criteria, applicability, benefits, and drawbacks. Concerns have been raised about the potential of understanding how to use such assessment tools to minimize the hazardous environmental effect of harmful chemicals and regulate irresponsible activities, besides the necessity of implementing such metric tools in method development rather than post-analysis evaluation. The application of Life Cycle Assessment for sustainable development and different solvent selection guides for alternative green solvents and reagents will be discussed as well. This study expands researchers' knowledge to comprehend and remain fully up to date with the current greenness evaluation tools, and it helps them to select and apply the most appropriate approach through a realistic examination and comparison of the metric tools.
Audience take away:
- This study can help researchers who interested in developing green analytical methodologies by introducing the current available greenness assessment metric tools.
- The study introduces a comparison between the existing greenness assessment tools and their merits and demerits, from which researchers could understand the difference between the assessment tools and how they can apply them in their analytical research.
- This study could help in disseminating concept of green chemistry and significance of applying such greenness evaluation tools in order to protect our ecosystem.
- Additionally, the concept of greenness assessment should be widespread not only to research laboratories, but also it could be expanded to industrial and educational scales to minimize negative impact of chemical processes.
