Scoring of solvents used in analytical laboratories by their toxicological and exposure hazards

Abstract

Green analytical chemistry, although a well recognised concept, still lacks reliable environmental impact assessment procedures. This article describes scoring of solvents, frequently used in analytical laboratories, with CHEMS-1 model. The model uses toxicological and exposure data to calculate hazard values related to the utilisation of solvents.The original model was modified to incorporate hazards related to the volatility of chemicals. The scoring of hazard values showed that polar solvents are less hazardous. The scoring results were applied to assess the total hazard values in terms of solvent consumption. The hazard scores calculated for each chemical were multiplied by the volumes of solvent used during the analytical procedure. The results show that calculation of total procedural hazard values is valuable in the green analytical chemistry assessment procedure. Moreover, the assessment procedure can be combined with other procedural greenness assessment methods.