Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 5 (2024) 100078

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Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment

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Developments in analytical chemistry initiated from green chemistry

Mihkel Koel
Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate 5, Tallinn 19018, Estonia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The influence of green chemistry principles on analytical chemistry is discussed. Emphasised are the changes in
Green analytical chemistry chemical measurement procedures related to introduction of new solvents, decrease in use of energy and safer
Quality-by-design chemicals. Described are new approaches like ‘quality-by-design’ in development of analytical methods, ‘fitness-
Fitness-for -purpose
of-purpose’ of instrumental analysis methods and position of ‘chemometrics’ related to greening of analytical
chemistry. The methods of assessment of greenness of analytical procedures are considered. The great activity of
introduction of principles of green chemistry have created the changes in analytical chemistry directed to provide
the end users of chemical measurements the high-quality information in an inherently safe and environmentally
friendly way they need within a reasonable time and at the least possible spending on materials and energy.

Introduction
Analytical chemistry holds an interesting position among the
chemical sciences related to their accumulation of knowledge through
chemical measurements. As a science on chemical measurements, the
target of analytical chemistry is to get direct, accurate and unambiguous
signals — be it in the bulk or surface of the solid, liquid or gas. To
achieve this, the necessary procedures employing proper data handling
must be developed, forming the scientific content that is analytical
chemistry. Analytical measurements present knowledge about a chem­
ical system and give a quantitative basis for the development of the
system’s chemical theories and models to explain its processes in the
chemical world. This includes the development of standards, specifica­
tions and the justification for new laws and administrative prescriptions.
This way, the application of the analytical procedures are very much
related to many goals of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development to
a sustainable world wherever the chemistry, biochemistry and material
science is involved.
In the textbook edited by the Working Party on Analytical Chemistry
in the European Federation of Chemical Societies, the following defi­
nition is given: Analytical Chemistry is a scientific discipline that develops
and applies methods, instruments and strategies to obtain information on the
composition and nature of matter in space and time [1]. This emphasises
that research in analytical chemistry involves the development of
methods for chemical measurements to obtain necessary data. The
quality of the measurement data is characterised by their precision and
accuracy, which play a big part in the uncertainty measures of the data.
Often, the research to improve these parameters will result in lowering
the detection limits, reducing the time for analysis and creating in­
structions for the analysis of complex or unknown sample matrices. Data
produced by these chemical measurement processes with sufficient ac­
curacy and precision must also allow the user of the data to make
technically correct decisions regarding their stated purpose [2]. As a
science of chemical measurements, the chemical analysis systems today
are closely related to the production and supply of information for the
control and regulation of systems in both industry and public in­
stitutions, forming an essential part of quality control and quality
assurance systems [3].
One must keep in mind that the measurement process in chemical
analysis begins when the primary sample is taken, and involves every
step, including physical sample preparation in the laboratory (e.g. dry­
ing, grinding and splitting) and the chemical derivatisation of the ana­
lyte [4]. The uncertainty of the measurement, i.e. the quality, includes
both the random and systematic contributions arising from sampling
and sample preparation, as well as those from the purely analytical
steps.
Following this central position of analytical chemistry, among other
branches of chemistry, it is clear that analytical chemistry can be
influenced by green chemistry. An analytical chemist needs solvents,
reagents, energy, instruments and devices to perform the measurements.
All this is related to the creation of waste, which is one of the main topics
in green chemistry. It sets the conditions for the analytical chemist as a
researcher to develop the methods and perform the analyses according
to green chemistry principles: (following the numbering of green
chemistry principles by Anastas and Warner in [5]) preventing waste
(1); using safer solvents and auxiliaries (5); designing processes and

E-mail address: mihkel.koel@ttu.ee.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scenv.2024.100078
Received 19 December 2023; Received in revised form 30 January 2024; Accepted 6 February 2024
Available online 13 February 2024
2949-8392/© 2024 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
M. Koel
instruments for energy efficiency (6); performing in sample treatment
and analytical measurement to avoid chemical derivatives (8), and
ensuring the sample treatment and measurement processes use safer
chemistry to minimise the potential of chemical accidents (12). The
concept of green chemistry adds economy and environmental friendli­
ness into chemical analysis, which is especially important in monitoring
and controlling large systems in industrial and technological processes
where the owner of the obtained data wants be sure that the required
chemical information is obtained in an inherently safe, non-toxic and
environmentally benign way. The economic advantages of these prin­
ciples in analyses are expressed in saving money by using fewer solvents
and reagents, saving time and labour by using efficient procedures and
instruments. The additional duty for the analyst is to support synthetic
chemists and chemical engineers in their confirmation of the greenness
of their products and processes.
Very interesting discussion is recently started by P.M.Nowak study­
ing the principles of green chemistry and green analytical chemistry [6].
It begins with question “Can green chemistry have theoretical basis as a
science?” The problem is that these principles - Green Chemistry
formulated by Anastas and Warner [5] and Green Analytical Chemistry
formulated by Namiesnik [7] are not unified and internally inconsistent,
directed mostly to processes, synthetic chemists, and methods de­
velopers. There are suggestions to set up Unified Greenness Theory and
proposed the mathematical description for that to better formulate the
hierarchical order on Unified Principles of Greenness. Author is
explaining that “it is just a theory, and theories should be critically
verified, discussed, improved, and replaced with better ones over time”.
Let’s hope that this call will get response and will add more on solid base
for “definition of greenness and the state of being green”.
This puts the greening of analytical processes and methods in an
important position for chemical measurement development in analytical
chemistry. This trend can be followed in almost exponentially growing
numbers of publications (Fig. 1). There are around 1000 publications
listed in the Web of Science under the subject of ‘green analytical
chemistry’ or ‘green analytical methods’. This began in 1999 when the
term was first announced [8], and later taken into wider use by
analytical chemists [9]. They are also included in more than 180 review
papers as well as several textbooks [10–14].
This paper discusses the influence of the principles of green chem­
istry, marking the main trends and developments in analytical chemistry
over the past 25 years outside of chronological order, including the
movements closely related to green trends in chemical measurements.
Fig. 1. The number of documents containing the Keywords ’green analytical
chemistry’ and ‘green analytical method’ published from 1999 to 2023 with
added exponential trendline.
Source: Web of Science.
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Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 5 (2024) 100078
Resources in analytical chemistry
The product of analytical chemistry is nothing material, only
chemical information. As a result, it is considered a ‘small-scale’ branch
of chemistry and the chemical industry when compared with others.
However, while it may be true for labs in academia, the millions of
analyses made each day in industry and health institutions around the
world provide evidence that the impact of the analytical methods on the
cost of chemicals, other materials and energy is not negligible at all, and
it is growing fast. Monetary parameters are a clear example — in terms
of revenue, the global life science instrumentation market was estimated
to be worth $54.9 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $73.9 billion by
2028; the global healthcare analytical testing services market was esti­
mated to be worth $6.5 billion in 2022; and the global Process Analytical
Technology market was estimated to be worth $3.2 billion in 2022 and is
poised to reach $6.1 billion by 2027. The global environmental moni­
toring market faces the same trajectory in terms of revenue — it was
estimated to be worth $14.5 billion in 2021 and is poised to reach $17.9
billion by 2026 [15]. These large numbers emphasise the amount of the
resources consumed in this area.
The amount of solvent used for sample preparation, the extraction of
solid matrices and analyte determination is both an environmental and
economic problem. Over half a million companies in Europe use sol­
vents, and solvent manufacturers across Europe have an estimated
combined turnover of about 4 billion euros, where annual sold volumes
total to approximately 5 million tonnes, from which 2.2 million tonnes
are evaporating into the air [16]. Even though chemical analysis only
accounts for about 7% of this, there are solvents to consider in the
hundreds of thousands of tons for recycling or waste treatment. The
principles of green chemistry have great influence on the use of solvents.
The increasing number of international bans and strict regulations have
generated great pressure for the active search of environmentally
friendly alternatives to volatile organic solvents as well as in analytical
procedures for extractions and separations. In neoteric solvents, for
example, an additional advantage is the possibility to fine-tune the
physical properties and increase flexibility, allowing the use of the same
solvent in a variety of different processes. This is not an easy task and
cannot be achieved quickly. In this area, another educational example is
the initial consideration of room temperature molten salts or ionic liq­
uids. At first, they were advertised as green solvents – mostly because of
their non-volatility and thermal stability. However, it became clear that
there are problems with their inertness, biotoxicity and degradability.
Additionally, more careful life cycle analysis showed significant envi­
ronmental problems related to the production of these kinds of liquids.
This lack of sustainability substantially increased the pressure on studies
for finding new solvents that have been carefully tested for environ­
mental friendliness and toxicity for the duration of their entire life cycle.
M. Tobiszewski et. al. proposed a rather logical approach to solvents,
where the impact values of environmental emissions are estimated and
expressed in monetary units. Monetary value estimates are based on the
solvent’s global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, the po­
tential to form secondary particles, the oxygen demand to biodegrade,
and their acute oral toxicity towards rats. It is the first attempt to con­
textualise the influence of solvent emissions on a clear and economically
understandable scale. There are other numbers regarding solvents that
are generally considered to be green, and these solvents are charac­
terised by a low estimated economic impact [17]. There are many useful
publications on different solvents and chemicals available to find safer
and environmentally friendly replacements [18–20]. Some tools on
assessment of hazards from chemicals used in analysis are appearing
also in literature [21] What is important is that big chemical and
pharmaceutical companies are involved in this process [22]. This
movement towards replacement is creating remarkable changes in
analytical methods as well, but some literature unfortunately uses the
replacement of solvents in their analytical methods as the only reason to
advertise the analysis method as ‘green’, not considering the usage of
M. Koel
energy or other supplementary materials.
Beside the solvents and chemicals, the reduction and saving of en­
ergy also characterises an environmentally benign side of particular
chemical analyses. In principle, the strategies to decrease the use of
energy have three approaches – (i) the practical approach in the form of
efficient analytical instruments and devices for sample preparation/
treatment, as well as energy-efficient laboratories; (ii) the administra­
tive approach in the form of teaching and training analysts and labo­
ratory managers; (iii) the benign technologies approach in the form of
substituting critical components for energy use, and introducing new
efficient and environmentally benign methods and technologies [23].
Energy is needed not only to keep analytical instruments running,
but also to obtain analytical signals for the necessary information. The
interactions between relevant forms of energy (e.g. chemical energy,
radiation, heat) and the constituents of the sample (e.g. atoms, ions,
molecules) are the source of signals that are measured in physical
quantities, such as volume, mass and electrical charges, or differences in
temperature and the intensities of radiation energy. Often, an essential
part of greening the analytical method is the replacement of wasteful
thermal energy with other forms of energy like light, ultrasound and
microwave, where energy is targeted only toward the molecules un­
dergoing the analytical signal generating reaction. In this sense a useful
paper is on carbon footprint of analytical laboratory providing lot of
information on energy consumption by analytical instruments [24].
Analytical instruments process the signals and present them in a usable
format for further information handling. Because of the high price of
energy, the development of new instruments involves economising on
the use of energy as well as the reduction of materials. Other energy
savers during analysis include the automation and combination methods
of sample treatments, separating components or integrating the sepa­
ration, and complex methods of detection. These trends in analytical
instrumentation are discussed later in the section on miniaturisation and
simplifying methods.
Selecting the methods for acquiring the necessary chemical infor­
mation is challenging, because there are a variety of methods to choose
from. It starts with information gathering for the current problem to
solve. The number of samples available and the concentration range of
the analyte set physical limits and guide the selection of the detection
method, where its related performance characteristics yield reliable
accuracy in the measured data. The greening process is an important
part of performing an analysis, but isn’t the only one. There are other
characteristics to consider on the practical side, starting with the cost
and availability of equipment and skilled operators; and the ease and
speed of the analysis that forms part of the cost per sample.
In the production of chemicals, especially in the pharmaceutical in­
dustry where these are used as active pharmaceutical ingredients, the
quality of the final product determines the quality of the whole process.
The industry was introduced to PAT — the process of analytical tech­
nology — which is defined as a system for designing, analysing, and
controlling the manufacturing processes through timely measurements
of critical quality and performance attributes (i.e. during processing).
The measurements may be on raw materials, intermediates, and prod­
ucts, but often they are of key process parameters that affect the effi­
ciency of the process and the quality of the final product [25]. For almost
20 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration guided the PAT [26].
Chemical analysis is only part of this system. In this context, the term
‘analytical’ in PAT includes chemical, physical, microbiological, math­
ematical, and risk analysis, possibly conducted in an integrated manner,
and chemical measurements. PAT systems operate through a combina­
tion of analytical devices, reactor control elements, and mathematical
models using a quality-by-design (QbD) approach to ensure the quality
of the final product through continuous real-time feedback (in on-line
and in-line analysis) [27,28]. In the pharmaceutical industry, the
quality-by-design (QbD) approach has become very popular, and has
great influence on the developments of analytical methods and pro­
cedures [29]. There is now the proposed term ‘analytical
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Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 5 (2024) 100078
quality-by-design’ to emphasise the role and development of analytical
chemical methods within a quality control system [30]. The integration
of green chemistry principles into QbD analytical chemistry will make
the development of analytical methods more systematically organised
and benign, especially for the quality systems of the chemical industry,
where a big part relies on chemical analysis and its respective control
system [31]. In the quality-by-design stage, the analytical target profile
describes the needs to be met by an analytical procedure, and how they
are related to the uncertainty of the results (i.e. it measures the quality of
the analytical result) [32]. This provides a useful basis for analysing
available analytical methods according to green metrics, yielding some
quantitative measures for the selection.
The well-known Ishikawa fishbone diagram, used mostly in risk-
assessment procedures, presents important aspects on the way to
reach a high-quality product (Fig. 2). The study of this scheme must be
accompanied with regulatory requirements (legal, safety, and good
laboratory practice) as well as any available analytical performance
(including specificity, sample throughput, and analysis time). This dia­
gram helps to find places where the green chemistry approach can be
applied to production and measurements related to production.
The greening-by-design analytical method does not only mean
reducing the use of solvents and harmful chemicals with regard to a
particular chemical measurement procedure, but also means properly
selecting analytical instruments that have the necessary performance
and efficiency suited for the purpose. As seen, there are already papers
where QbD principles are complemented with green analytical chem­
istry principles [33]. The QbD approach widely involves the
design-of-experiment approach for the optimisation of the analytical
method. A limited number of additional experiments are used to
determine acceptable ranges of the method variables that make the
design process more economical. If sample preparation and data analysis
are included in the design process, the impact is complex for whole
process.
Sadly, the concept of green analytical chemistry is not widely rec­
ognised in analytical chemistry laboratories. One reason could be the
lack of widespread assessments of the analytical methods, despite active
work in developing green metrics to evaluate the environmental impact
of analytical procedures. In principle, simple and flexible metrics should
measure the impact of analytical procedures on the environment, human
health and human safety, and related calculations should be easy to
perform. Fortunately, new publications on the development of analyt­
ical methods are increasingly including greenness metrics in their as­
sessments. The most popular method seems to be the Analytical
Greenness Calculator (AGREE) [34]. There are recent reviews [35,36]
on greenness metrices where different systems are discussed and
compared on their practical applications, including historical and pop­
ular metrices such as the National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI)
[37], the Analytical Method Greenness Score (AMGS) [38] the Analyt­
ical Eco-scale [39], the Green Analytical Procedure Index (GAPI) [40],
and the Additive Colour Model (RGB)[41]. These reviews include
extensive tutorials to familiarise the different metrices and show how
they can have different criteria, advantages and disadvantages. Also,
these reviews have tables, summarizing most of the above mentioned
metric’s in well observable and comprehensive form.
The recent studies on evaluation of analytical methods are more
devoted to complex assessment of greenness starting from reagents and
materials used, instrumentation capabilities (sample through-put,
automation, hyphenation with sample preparation, etc.), and finishing
with efficiency questions (cost and time per sample, simplicity of anal­
ysis process). Good push for this was given by “White Analytical
Chemistry” (WAC) approach [41], where are combined means to reach
analytical performance, principles of green chemistry and practical sides
related to analysis process. One example on this development is Blue
applicability grade index (BAGI) developed by V.Samanidou et al. [42].
BAGI is complementary to the green assessment tools, mainly related to
practical aspects of analysis - “blue” principles of white analytical
M. Koel
Fig. 2. Fishbone diagram for production.
chemistry. Big advantage with this development is availability of
open-source application was created, accompanied by a web application
available.
Even before the WAC, there was proposed Green Analytical Pro­
cedure Index (GAPI), what is also covering widely different aspects of
chemical analysis. Now is proposed a complex green analytical pro­
cedure index (ComplexGAPI), an easy tool that complements the exist­
ing GAPI metric [43]. One hexagonal field was added to the original
GAPI graph what reflects the processes performed prior to the sample
preparation step and after final analysis. Authors are well understood
that success of using this kind of indices depend on availability of
respective software, they have created software for generating the
ComplexGAPI pictograms.
Role of instrumental analysis
Today’s chemical analyses mainly rely on instrumental analysis
because contemporary instruments are able to achieve higher sensitivity
and complexity, provide automation, as well as process and present fast
and complex data. Wet chemistry has nearly been replaced by the
instrumental approach’s special devices in sample preparation. As
sample preparation is becoming an automated and integrated part of the
analysis, it allows for a substantial reduction in the use of chemicals and
solvents. However, it is accompanied by the extensive usage of in­
struments and devices, which makes following the principles of green
engineering in the development of instrumental methods more relevant.
This side of analytical chemistry is much less discussed and studied. As
mentioned in [44], the trends in research and the needs in practice do
not always align, especially regarding the ‘fitness-of-purpose’ of analysis
methods. Planning analytical measurements must be optimised to ach­
ieve the necessary information for making decisions and solving prob­
lems; it is not always necessary to use the most sophisticated
instrumentation. This economical approach is in harmony with the
design of new analytical instruments and the principles of green engi­
neering proposed by P. Anastas et. al. [45]. There is safety and materi­
al/energy economy on the first plane: all inputs and outputs are
inherently non-hazardous (1); maximise mass, energy, space and time
efficiency (4); limit the underused and unnecessary materials and energy
(8); minimise material diversity (9); and design for the commercial
‘afterlife’ (11). It should assure that the instruments that provide the
necessary information itself are environmentally benign. However, in
instrument building, there is heavy competition between companies.
The usual market economy principles urge these companies to sell a new
instrument every year, which is not an environmentally benign
approach, alongside following the principles of circle economy for
instruments.
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Miniaturisation and simplifying methods
Despite that, there exist positive trends, and research is being con­
ducted to develop more environmentally friendly economical methods
and means of analysis. Some time ago, it was proposed that the ‘4 S′
approach – pertaining to Specific methods, Smaller dimensions, Simpler
methods, and Statistics — be used for analytical chemistry [46] in order
to obtain the most environmentally benign and economical outcome.
At first, two directions can be mentioned: (i) the miniaturisation of
existing methods and (ii) the consideration of a wider usage for simple
analytical methods. However, the green chemistry principles are often
not mentioned in these tasks. The starting points for both directions to
consider green chemistry are the efficient usage, saving energy and
chemicals, and keeping the instrumental side as simple as possible. This
trend is strongly supported by the need to perform analyses outside of a
lab, such as for point-of-care on-site testing. The simplest instruments for
this are paper and smartphone based [47]. Recent reviews on
paper-based devices emphasise the advantages of paper-based nano-­
sensors, where various nanostructures fabricate and produce optical
signals for visualisation [48]. Due to their simplicity and not requiring
additional materials and resources, these sensors fit with the World
Health Organization’s ASSURED criteria guidelines (affordable, sensi­
tive, specific, user-friendly, rapid and robust, equipment-free, and
deliverable). When the optical signal is available, the simplest and most
effective detector is the smartphone. This way, the approach is very
attractive for use in medicine as a fast and easy-to-handle bedside
analytical device. Smartphones are being rapidly introduced into
different analytical areas, where together with sensors and microfluidic
devises, they are forming a flexible base for point-of-care testing and
monitoring [49]. Still, both reviews do not mention green chemistry,
despite the approach being deeply green in the context of its minimal
waste generation and efficient use of energy. However, this approach is
well mentioned by M. de la Guardia et. al.’s Encyclopedia of Analytical
Science [50], which emphasises remote sensing and the increasing in­
terest in the use of simple sensors, smartphones and photo cameras to
determine the general and specific parameters of different types of
samples.
Regarding instruments, the close contact of analytical chemistry with
‘citizen science’ is of note. There are simple sensors and analytical de­
vices available in the market, and enthusiastic people are developing
ways to monitor the environment without expensive laboratory in­
struments [51]. As there are discussions on the quality of the data
resulting from citizen science, these must be evaluated using the same
parameters as any other chemical measurement, including measures
such as accuracy, reproducibility, completeness, representativeness over
space and time, and whether the data are fit for purpose [52]. This can
M. Koel
be referred to as a ‘green cousin’ of analytical chemistry, with very little
resources needed and minimal waste.
For chemical analysis, in addition to solvents and chemicals for
modifying the analytes to get proper analytical signals, be they optical or
electrochemical, different materials are also needed, such as sorbents,
chromatographic solid phases, solid carriers of active materials, etc. This
field is also in constant change, and new materials are being developed.
Notably, the development of multifunctional materials is among them,
with physical or chemical properties that can be controllably altered in
response to an external stimulus — the so called smart materials dis­
cussed in these sources [53,54]. Due to their similarity to neoteric sol­
vents and the extra flexibility they can provide, they can lead to the
development of new analytical procedures that will reduce waste and
save energy. Smart materials are intensively studied for their use in
miniaturisation, the development of sensors, and flexible automation of
analytical procedures, which are important factors in greening these
analytical processes. A list of examples is given in the handbook on
smart materials in analytical chemistry, where there is a chapter related
to green analytical chemistry [55]. Attention is given to the different
materials (silica-based, polymeric, carbon-based and others, like zeolites
and quantum dots) used as supports, chromatographic materials, or
solid-phase extraction packing. This is especially the case in biochemical
analysis, where molecularly imprinted polymers are being used as se­
lective tools for environmental, food, and biological samples for various
analytical techniques such as liquid chromatography, capillary
electro-chromatography, solid-phase extraction, binding assays, and
biosensors. Discussions also cover the use of compounds for the modi­
fication of solvents in chromatography and electrophoresis — e.g. sur­
factants, chiral additives, and molten salts. Among all these materials,
some show to be good candidates for the improvement of the analytical
parameters of their procedures in a safe and environmentally benign
way, though they must undergo further study before their widespread
introduction into analytical protocols. For the production of smart ma­
terials, as well as for nanomaterials is required the green commercial
production techniques that must accompany toxicology data and the
development of safe analysis protocols [56]. Here, one must emphasise
the importance of the life cycle analysis (LCA) of compounds and ma­
terials, which covers and quantifies problems related to the manufac­
ture, use, and disposal (including recycling) of a product [57]. The LCA
is already an accepted and used tool, included in international standards
[58]. The need for LCA in the design of materials, methods, and in­
struments as well as its important addition to the principles of green
chemistry was mentioned by P. Anastas et al. already some time ago
[59].
Special attention must be given to the single-use devices and sup­
plements that are widely used in bio- and medical analysis, mostly
prepared from polymers. The end of their life cycle should be designed
just as it is for instruments, so that the building blocks of the polymer can
be recaptured and recycled efficiently, reducing the amount that is
discarded. At present, it can be concluded that research on the recycling
of bio-based materials, especially bio-blends and bio-composites, is still
at a preliminary stage and lacks a deep understanding of the different
factors affecting the performance, economy and sustainability of recy­
cled bioplastics [60]. The same conclusion can be reached for nano­
particles and nanomaterials used in analytical chemistry.
Chemometrics
There are cases where analytical chemistry can be done without
solvents and instruments, using simple measurement processes and
avoiding part of sample pre-treatment by replacing it with mathematical
methods. This area of chemometrics covers the optimisation of analyt­
ical measurements and separation procedures, including the experi­
mental design and sampling theory. Chemometrics is a study related to
multivariate statistics and data analysis for the extraction of useful in­
formation from large (multidimensional) data sets, and is often
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Sustainable Chemistry for the Environment 5 (2024) 100078
connected with signal processing to improve the signal-to-noise ratio
and signal resolution. The use of mathematical and statistical methods in
chemistry can be tied to the principles of green chemistry. Often, using
mathematical procedures instead of chemical processing can make it
possible to ‘extract’ necessary chemical information from raw and sim­
ple measurement data. The automatization prevents human error and
saves time. This way, it can be considered part of an environmentally
benign laboratory system. The results of chemical measurements have a
statistical nature, and are always presented with a certain probability
and measurement uncertainty. The method’s analytical parameters,
such as sensitivity, selectivity, detection and determination limit, char­
acterise the precision and accuracy of the method, and present the sta­
tistical sense of the result of the measurement, determining the range of
its real value [61]. They also represent the quality of the measured re­
sults [62].
There has been a recent overview on green developments in
analytical chemistry, enthusiastically titled ‘Green Analytical Chemistry
is going mainstream’ [63]. Topics covered there include (1) sampling
and sample preparation; (2) greening the analytical process; and (3)
methods development. There is still a warning by B. Buszewski and his
co-workers that despite certain success in the greening separation
methods, each methodology/concept/analytical solution may be green
in one way but contradicts green principles in another aspects [64].
Papers covering greening the analytical process all emphasise the
complexity of the different methods, especially working with different
sample matrices where it is important to understand the molecular basis
of the mechanism of separation [65]. In methods development, the
introduction of new materials with the label ‘green’ must pass careful
testing respect their sourcing, synthesis and modification methods, and
preserve their biodegradation and/or recyclability qualities, with
favourable end-of-life options to make sure these processes meet this
demanding label [66]. It is emphasised that the use of solvents is always
a compromise between the efficiency of the extraction procedure, the
analytical method, the matrix specificities and the target molecules,
with the reminder that there is no one universal solvent for analytical
chemistry [67].
Conclusion
Chemistry is changing very rapidly. This is expressed in new de­
velopments in different branches. Analytical chemistry is getting mo­
mentum from discoveries in other branches of chemistry, as well as in
physics, molecular biology and material science to both improve exist­
ing and develop new methods for chemical measurements. It was
demonstrated that green chemistry principles are slowly but surely
invading into this process. The result is that environmentally friendly
and high-quality analytical methods are driving the evolution towards
the entire environmentally benign discipline of chemistry. The princi­
ples of Green Chemistry — the minimisation of the amount of waste,
together with the reduction of material and energy — are already
practically shown to be more intensively introduced into analytical
procedures. There is pressure from the end users of chemical measure­
ments to provide the high-quality information they need within a
reasonable time and at a reasonable cost (the least possible consumption
of materials and energy) in an inherently safe and environmentally
friendly way.
From the discussion, it is clear that the greening of analytical
chemistry does not involve only the reduction of the use of solvents and
harmful chemicals for a particular chemical measurement procedure,
but it also includes the introduction of efficient and economical in­
struments best suited to their purpose. Analytical chemistry includes
many examples for the optimisation of the analytical processes of
chemical measurements with respect to the consumption of materials
and energy, the generation of waste, inherent safety, and environmental
benignity, while still providing the required analytical information with
the necessary sensitivity, accuracy and precision. These developments
M. Koel
and results are not always advertised as resulting from green chemistry,
but in principle the results are the reduction of waste as well as the
decrease in the use of solvents, chemicals and energy. The same goes for
the fast-growing areas of on-site or point-of-care analysis, which include
the research and development of (bio)sensors ranging from stand-alone
miniature sensors to complex smart systems. The minimal waste gen­
eration and drastically reduced reagent, solvent and energy consump­
tion of these devices follow green chemistry principles. The proper
selection of instruments and methods to suit the purpose of each given
situation is crucial, as it not only conserves materials, energy and
money, but also reduces health and safety hazards for the analyst and
the environment.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
The Estonian Center of Analytical Chemistry (ECAC) is acknowl­
edged for support.
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