Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Publication requirements
• Potential toxicity
• Evaluation of consumption
Referee instructions
• Evaluation of green
parameters together with
& waste generation
main figures of merit
Increased environmental conscience
Authors
Editors
Referees
Readers
Complete information
about side effects
Figure 4.7
Suggestions for the improvement of Green Analytical Chemistry publications.
consumption and waste in method publications. It could open up tremendous opportunities for the readers to
select the best procedure from methodological, environmental and economical point of view. Thus once
again, to be environmentally friendly does not limit at all the possibilities but enhances and expands the
capabilities of the analytical methods. In this sense, green information about the methods (1) offers new lines
of method improvement, (2) increases the multiparametric information obtained from direct or quasi-direct
measurements, (3) reduces cost, time of analysis, costs and risks, (4) reduces physical and chemical treatments
and replaces those by improved mathematical ones, and (5) incorporates solutions to the analytical troubles,
like on-line waste treatment.
In short, by greening analytical publications we will contribute to the development of analytical chemistry
and enhance the safety and applied figures of merit of methods.
4.6
The future starts now
Up until this point we have spoken about the origin of the green conscience at the end of the twentieth century
and the tremendous development made in the first decade of the twenty-first century concerning the
environmental conscience applied to the analytical methods.
The year 2011 was the International Year of Chemistry and contributed to increase the relationship between
chemistry and society, and in such a way we have been obliged to transmit to the public the idea that chemistry
is the key to solve the pollution problem and not the reason for environmental damage. So, the aforementioned
proposals for greening the publications on analytical chemistry, together with the efforts for greening our
teaching activities, can move the public opinion about our discipline.
Now it is time to move from the special issues devoted to Green Analytical Chemistry to new practices,
totally integrated in our everyday activity. To think about the collateral environmental and personal
damage that can result from our work and to prevent those risks which can arise from method application
cannot be fashion or a temporally interesting proposal. The objective is to preserve our planet. In this
sense, the contribution of each measurement made in a sustainable way can seem irrelevant but all those
practices together can guarantee a better future for our children. This is the challenge and now it is time
to take the appropriate measures to avoid pollution problems and to increase the safety of the analytical
laboratories.
