On this page: Show Definition of green chemistryGreen chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, use, and ultimate disposal. Green chemistry:
How green chemistry differs from cleaning up pollutionGreen chemistry reduces pollution at its source by minimizing or eliminating the hazards of chemical feedstocks, reagents, solvents, and products. This is unlike cleaning up pollution (also called remediation), which involves treating waste streams (end-of-the-pipe treatment) or cleanup of environmental spills and other releases. Remediation may include separating hazardous chemicals from other materials, then treating them so they are no longer hazardous or concentrating them for safe disposal. Most remediation activities do not involve green chemistry. Remediation removes hazardous materials from the environment; on the other hand, green chemistry keeps the hazardous materials out of the environment in the first place. If a technology reduces or eliminates the hazardous chemicals used to clean up environmental contaminants, this technology would qualify as a green chemistry technology. One example is replacing a hazardous sorbent [chemical] used to capture mercury from the air for safe disposal with an effective, but nonhazardous sorbent. Using the nonhazardous sorbent means that the hazardous sorbent is never manufactured and so the remediation technology meets the definition of green chemistry. Green chemistry's 12 principlesThese principles demonstrate the breadth of the concept of green chemistry: 1. Prevent waste: Design chemical syntheses to prevent waste. Leave no waste to treat or clean up. 2. Maximize atom economy: Design syntheses so that the final product contains the maximum proportion of the starting materials. Waste few or no atoms. 3. Design less hazardous chemical syntheses: Design syntheses to use and generate substances with little or no toxicity to either humans or the environment. 4. Design safer chemicals and products: Design chemical products that are fully effective yet have little or no toxicity. 5. Use safer solvents and reaction conditions: Avoid using solvents, separation agents, or other auxiliary chemicals. If you must use these chemicals, use safer ones. 6. Increase energy efficiency: Run chemical reactions at room temperature and pressure whenever possible. 7. Use renewable feedstocks: Use starting materials (also known as feedstocks) that are renewable rather than depletable. The source of renewable feedstocks is often agricultural products or the wastes of other processes; the source of depletable feedstocks is often fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, or coal) or mining operations. 8. Avoid chemical derivatives: Avoid using blocking or protecting groups or any temporary modifications if possible. Derivatives use additional reagents and generate waste. 9. Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents: Minimize waste by using catalytic reactions. Catalysts are effective in small amounts and can carry out a single reaction many times. They are preferable to stoichiometric reagents, which are used in excess and carry out a reaction only once. 10. Design chemicals and products to degrade after use: Design chemical products to break down to innocuous substances after use so that they do not accumulate in the environment. 11. Analyze in real time to prevent pollution: Include in-process, real-time monitoring and control during syntheses to minimize or eliminate the formation of byproducts. 12. Minimize the potential for accidents: Design chemicals and their physical forms (solid, liquid, or gas) to minimize the potential for chemical accidents including explosions, fires, and releases to the environment. Download a one-sided or two-sided bookmark showing the twelve principles of green chemistry. Green chemistry's roots in the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990To stop creating pollution in the first place became America's official policy in 1990 with the Federal Pollution Prevention Act . The law defines source reduction as any practice that:
The term "source reduction" includes:
Section 2 of the Pollution Prevention Act establishes a pollution prevention hierarchy, saying:
Green chemistry aims to design and produce cost-competitive chemical products and processes that attain the highest level of the pollution-prevention hierarchy by reducing pollution at its source. For those who are creating and using green chemistry, the hierarchy looks like this:
*Chemicals that are less hazardous to human health and the environment are:
Developed by Paul Anastas and John Warner in 1998*, the following list outlines a a framework for making a greener chemical, process, or product. Click on the tabs to reveal articles about each principle. These articles were originally developed for The Nexus Blog.
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