In order to publicize the concept of green chemistry and sustainable development, and letenvironmental education actively penetrate into chemical education, scholars fromboth sides joint
Green Economy
Green has always symbolized life, hope, and recently has come to mean welfare and prosperity as well That’s whyecological civilizationis considered a result of sustainable development The term sustainable development has become firmly entrenched in the professional vocabulary in economic, social, ecological, and other spheres A conceptual definition of this term, although interpreted by linguists as continuous steady growth, implies the further development, which does not contravene the continued existence of mankind and its development in the same direction.
Economists, such as Daniel Bell, have suggested a new term to describe the current stage of development of society—a so-called post-industrial society orknowledge society[1] Its sustainable development is based on theknowledge economy This relatively new term means that the economy encompasses not only technologies but also the whole process of knowledge production The knowledge triangle, which embodies a key driver of a knowledge-based economy, refers to the inter- action between research, education, and innovation The use of scientific knowl- edge and technological ideas does not lead to their depletion, but rather facilitates the accumulation of intellectual potential of a nation Knowledge, unlike gas and oil, may be considered a renewable resource Knowledge economy has also been proclaimed as a top priority of Belarusian economic development in the coming years President Alexander Lukashenko noted that “there’s only one way namely © Zhejiang University Press 2021
T Savitskaya et al., Green Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3746-9_1
2 1 Principle of Green Chemistry an expedited transition to innovative, knowledge-based, resource-saving, globally competitive economy.” [2].
Economic growth and environmental protection complement each other on the path toward sustainable development In this connection, the term green economy has been coined President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping has pointed out that “green is gold” and that moving toward a new era of Ecocivilization and building a “Beautiful China” are key to realizing the “Chinese Dream” of rejuvenating the nation [3].
The Green Economy Initiative, supported by more than 20 states, was put forward by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2008 [4] It defined a green economy as low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive This economy also enhances social welfare, ensures social equality, while mitigating environmental risks and diminishing the prospects of environmental degradation. Three years after Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, looking back on 2011 and setting some priorities for 2012, emphasized that it’s necessary to build up not only green economy but also green society [5] Even though little time has passed, there’s no doubt the green strategy affected all spheres of life and our world is well on the way toward the newecological civilization This way in its turn more and more seldom resembles attempts of NGOs to combat environmental pollution and pollutants For instance, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Devel- opment—Rio+20—held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20–22, 2012, member states spotlighted the exigencies of technological innovation and also laid down some particular criteria for green technologies On September 25, 2015, the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development Agenda titledTrans- forming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which renewed hope for a bold transition toward a low-carbon economy, greater efficiency of natural resources, inclusive green economic growth, and overall sustainable development.
To take the next step—moving from commitment to action—countries must have an integrated approach to implementation that harmonizes environmental integrity, social inclusiveness, and economic prosperity For instance, the National Communi- cation (2012) specified the main trends and principles of Belarus’s transition toward a green economy, as an essential tool for ensuring sustainable development and environmental security According to the Country Report “China’s Path to Green Economy” (2015), the current period can be considered as the “great leap-forward” of China’s green economy agenda both conceptually and implementation-wise.
The Sustainable Development Concept
In recent years, green development trends ceased being the subject of popular publi- cations only and shifted toward actual use For example, green building, as a special system for construction solutions assessment, in many countries is already regulated by the set of national standards The development of this system is primarily stim- ulated by those who engage in investment and further facility operation, those who
1.2 The Sustainable Development Concept 3 wish to have a comprehensive assessment of the expediency of the made decision, of the convenience of buildings in the process of operation, of their impact on the environment and the economy For instance, if the construction takes place in an area, which has some clean water issues, any solution enabling to save water will be rated higher The European Union even adopted Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May
2010 on the energy performance of buildings Under this Directive, Member States must ensure that by December 31, 2020 all new buildings shall be nearly zero-energy consumption buildings Much attention is paid to the reuse of materials An example of the use of a green building is Sochi Olympic facilities The consumption, output expansion, and active advertising of green goods accounted for the fact that an esti- mated 95% of the European respondents are ready to purchase green goods, 75% of them are aware of this type of goods, and 63% try to find them on store shelves. Public polls revealed the dependence of green goods consumption level on the level of education Meanwhile, modern education in different regions around the world is gradually turning toward greenness Bypassing various types of labor activ- ities, it becomes apparent that content, approaches, and methods of green economy education coincide with that of sustainable development education Sometimes green economy education is interpreted in a more narrow sense, defining it as a type of education focused on changing the employment structure It’s also targeted at increasing demand for professionals in environmental technology, goods and services, and training of specialists of new professions, so-called green collars, along with the specific specialists, for instance, specialists in biofuel production.
In fact, sustainable development education is generally expected to conduct effective training of creative individuals capable of solving uphill tasks through innovative techniques At the same time, it’s necessary to be conscious of its interdisciplinarity and social responsibility to society The first ones to recognize it from this perspective were chemists, who faced the public outcry, while regarded as being accounted for environmental contamination Their consequent actions targeted toward changing the negative image resulted in that chemistry became the first natural science to be granted the green status Perhaps, if biology developed in such a way as chemistry did, it would potentially become green.
The diversity of shades of green in the higher education system is instantiated by green universityand green campus conceptions, which are implemented in several countries The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has defined the goals and objectives of green universities in “Green University Toolkit” publica- tion Green university works toward environmental protection, namely carbon emis- sion reduction, separate waste collection, water and electricity saving, ecological infrastructure development, and outreach campaigns Green students participate in eco-projects and events, carry out researches and project works on environmental protection In 2009, Grist, an American online magazine, issued the list of Top GreenColleges and Universities The green cohort comprised educational institutions of the USA, the UK, Canada, Costa Rica, and Scotland Such institutions as HarvardUniversity, the London School of Economics, and the University of Copenhagen have been for years committed to the green principles of their economic and sustainable development The Centre for Bioeconomy and Eco-innovations (CBE) at Moscow
State University named after Lomonosov together with Tetra Pak and World Wildlife Fund has started the “Green universities for Green economy” project in Russia The main objective of the project is to educate the new generation of professionals, who will take into account environmental factors in their activities.
There is another green university ranking—UI Green Metric World Univer- sity Racking—which aims to draw the attention of the academic community to the problems of ecology In 2013, 301 universities from 61 countries tried out for this ranking As in the academic rankings, the leading positions were occupied by univer- sities of the UK and the USA Among those universities, that made it to the Top-10, were the University of Nottingham (UK), University College Cork (UCC) (Ireland), Northeastern University (USA), the University of Bedford (UK), the University of Connecticut (USA), etc However, the makeup of the Top-10 green university ranking differs from the established global academic university rankings In the former, the assessment is carried out on the basis of criteria, such as specific eco-indicators, delineating campus attitude to the environment, the use of energy-efficient appli- ances, facing the waste recycling university program, etc There’s no doubt that the assessment of greenness of laboratory practical works must be appended to the number of these indicators The researchers conducted in American and European universities show that an estimated 90% of all emission is accounted for by university labs, with about 88% of it being toxic substances of various types.
At the present moment, by all accounts, chemistry does not correlate with the concept of green science The survey data submitted by Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2010 attest to the fact that biology is generally recognized by the public as the main green science [6] No wonder, as in the chemical sector of the economy there is a direct correspondence between the benefit of goods and the damage, caused to the environment and human health by the manufacturing process Many major industrial areas around the globe are now subject to significant chemical pollution. Considerable funds are spent on the establishment of wastewater treatment plants and hazardous substances disposal Such a method of solving ecological issues at the end of the production process is called theend-of-pipe approach.
Parallel to this method, another one, a so-called precautionary approach, has become increasingly prominent over the past two decades It focuses on prevention rather than dealing with the consequences of environmental degradation In practice,theprecautionary approachencompasses the optimization of production processes,energy-saving technologies implementation, the selection of more environmentally friendly raw materials, new product design, internal and external waste recycling,reducing the use of toxic and hazardous substances.
Cleaner Production Strategy
A Cleaner Production (CP) strategy, coined in 1989 by UNEP, has firmly established itself as revolutionary, as it enables chemists to produce required substances in a more environmentally friendly way, which is harmless to the environment at any
1.3 Cleaner Production Strategy 5 stage of the manufacturing and is safe for those who engaged in this process In fact, Cleaner Production represents a systematic approach to environmental protection, dealing with all the phases of manufacturing, as well as disposal process, i.e., the entire lifecycle “from cradle to grave,” aimed at prevention or decreasing short and long-run risks, threatening human health and the environment In addition to “Cradle to Grave” mentality, “Cradle to Cradle” concept has been recently introduced as an innovative way of creating products William McDonough, co-author of the book
“Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things,” said “Cradle to cradle is a strategy of hope; it’s about sharing the resources and the planet we have It’s about rethinking our role in our planet and on the environment.” [7].
Cleaner Production strategy has led to the emergence of a brand new branch of chemistry, termed green chemistry, which can be regarded as one of the CleanerProduction methods.
Green Chemistry: Principles, Current State, and Development
Green chemistry in the 21st century is not just a fashionable trend, it is an urgent need Green chemistry is an essential tool for achieving sustainable development goals In 2017, within the IUPAC the Interdivisional Committee on Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development was created In Fig.1.1the phrase “Green Chemistry” is written using symbols of chemical elements It was molded in the USA, then outspread to Europe, seeped into Russia, and has reached Belarus and China It’s also been recently given prominence in the developing countries For instance, the Green Chemistry Congress held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in November 2010 featuring Prof Paul T Anastas, co-founder of green chemistry, resulted in launching the Pan Africa Chemistry Network.
Fig 1.1 “Green chemistry” written by the symbols of the chemical elements of the Periodic Table
The main historical milestones in green chemistry development are the following:
1962—Rachel Carson, writer, biologist, and environmental conservation icon, published the first of three installments of “Silent Spring” The publication helped spread public awareness of the hazards of environmental pollution and pesticides to the environment.
1969—President Richard Nixon established the Citizen’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality and a Cabinet-level Environmental Quality Council (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/) Later that year, Nixon expanded his environ- mental efforts by appointing the White House Committee to determine whether an environmental agency should be developed.
1970—The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was launched.
1980s/1988—Shift from end-of-pipeline control to pollution prevention was recognized, leading to the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics in 1988 In the same years, safe chemistry activities were performed in Great Britain, Japan, France, yet they were not regulated at the state level, as in the United States.
1990—The Pollution Prevention Act under the George H W Bush Administration was passed.
1993—The EPA implemented the Green Chemistry Program, which served as a precedent for the design and processing of chemicals that lessen the negative environmental impact.
1995/1996—In 1995, President Bill Clinton established the Presidential Green
Chemical Challenge Awards, which served to encourage those involved with the manufacture and processes of chemicals to incorporate environmentally sustain- able design and processes in their practices The following year, the first recipient received the award, the only award issued by the president that honors work in chemistry Source:http://portal.acs.org/.
1997—The Green Chemistry Institute was launched It was created to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people Source:http://portal.acs.org/.
1998—“Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry” was published by Paul Anastas and John Warner Within the same year, Green Chemistry Network was formed by the Royal Society of Chemistry, backed by the Department of Chemistry, University of York.
2000s–Present—Some major green chemistry achievements include the Cali- fornia Green Chemistry Initiative In 2006, the first International IUPAC Confer- ence on Green Chemistry as a Chemistry for Sustainable Development was held in Dresden, 2 years later the second one takes place in St Petersburg In 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bills, which served to develop policy options for green chemistry (http://www.dtsc.ca.gov) One year later, President Obama nominated Paul Anastas as head of Research and Development at the EPA.
The concept was first introduced by Paul Anastas and John Warner in 1998 [8].Today, any type of advancement in chemistry contributing to the improvement of environmental conditions is called green chemistry Paul Anastas once noted that the best chemists go in for green chemistry, and that green chemistry is just a part of
1.4 Green Chemistry: Principles, Current State, … 7 doing good chemistry Green chemistry has also prompted the change in the equa- tion: “Risk=Hazard * Dose (Exposure),” by excluding the hazard component for its impact time In other words, it has reduced the risk by making reactants and processes less dangerous It all boils down to the formal definition of green chemistry “as a philosophy of chemical synthesis that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances.” The notion, however, is not quite accurate, if it’s treated solely as a branch of chemistry that embeds new safe manufacturing processes which help to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous substances Green chemistry is a revo- lutionary concept invented to minimize and prevent environmental contamination. Before people often used the same definitions for green and sustainable chemistry calling green chemistry is sustainable chemistry But as once Joaquin Barroso, the Italian chemist said we need to differentiate Green Chemistry and Sustainable Chem- istry or we take the risk of confusing purpose and procedure Green Chemistry is oriented toward the way we perform chemistry in order to achieve a sustainable chemical industry Sustainable Chemistry is the philosophical approach with which the ongoing transformations can still be performed while the damage to the envi- ronment, namely our ecosystems, is brought to a minimum in order to maintain our industry and the benefits there from for generations to come and spread to a larger scale But this is not only a matter of environmentalist nature; it is also an economical matter Qing-shi Zhu, a physical chemist and manufacturer of methanol automobile fuel from biomass sources, during a press conference said: “The ‘green’ in green chemistry is also the color of money.”
Green chemistry requires in-depth consideration, as the basis for a systematic approach to the chemical products manufacturing The novelty of this approach lies in the fact that a manufacturer is responsible not only for manufacturing process to be ecologically friendly, but also for the entire “life cycle” of the product, controlled at various stages In 2010, the International Standard ISO 26000:2010 was released, providing guidelines for social responsibility including environmental issues, which can be thus named green.
Green chemistry concept can be imaged by a mnemonic,PRODUCTIVELY, which captures the essence ofthe twelve principles of green chemistry:P—Prevent wastes; R—Renewable materials; O—Omit derivatization steps;D—Degradable chemical products;U—Use of safe synthetic methods;C—Catalytic reagents;T—
Temperature, pressure ambient;I—In-process monitoring;V—Very few auxiliary substances; E—E-factor, maximize feed in product;L—low toxicity of chemical products;Y—Yes, it is safe.
These 12 principles display the current situation in the USA and Europe The influence of national features on the formulation of the green chemistry principles can be observed in the greening principles, stated at the 1st Green Chemistry Congress, held in Africa in 2010.
R—regard for all lives and human health;
E—ensure degradability and no hazards;
N—new ideas and different thinking;
E—engineer for simplicity and practicality;
F—fewer auxiliary substances and solvents;
A—avoid the mistakes of others.
Working according to green chemistry principles is clearly demanding and involves great responsibility Sometimes, it is necessary to go off the beaten track to solve the problem Scientists at Lomonosov Moscow State University have thus elaborated the 13th principle of green chemistry saying “working the way it is usually done will get you only so far.”
Green chemistry particularly offers newquantitative parameters (metrics)to assess the degree of “greenness” of the process, such as E-factor (Environment factor), introduced by Roger Sheldon, defined as the mass ratio of waste to desired product mass, and atom efficiency, calculated by dividing the molecular weight of the product by the sum total of the molecular weights of all substances formed in the stoichiometric equation for the reaction involved The smaller E-factor and the closer atom efficiency to 100% are the greener process or reaction is These two parameters differ significantly, since E-factor indicates the amount of waste gener- ated per kg of product It takes the chemical yield into account and includes reagents, used catalysts, waste, solvents losses, and all process aids, which are not included in the stoichiometric equation used to calculate atom efficiency It is important as the amount of waste at the end of the process can exceed the amount of production residue The E-Factor concept has played a major role in processes of fine organic synthesis in the pharmaceutical industry (from 25 to 100), and was the least valuable for bulk chemicals synthesis (1000 tonnes in 3 years, 100–
1000 tonnes in 6 years, 1–100 tonnes in 11 years Thus, registration comprises the stage for a term of 3, 6, and 11 years, in relation to production or import volume (Fig.2.2).
• Risk Extremely hazardous substances will be evaluated within the first 3 years. Among these are CMR substances (carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic substances), PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic), vPvBs (very persistent and very bioaccumulative), etc.
There are several rules for the registration of chemicals:
(1) “One substance—one registration” (OSOR) REACH encourages data sharing among all companies by the joint submission of registration data to ECHA In rare cases, companies may be excused from submitting registration dossiers, if the potential commercial disadvantage or violation of their intellectual property rights due to information disclosure is discerned.
(2) The tonnage range from 1 to 10 tonnes p.a An estimated 17000 chemicals manufactured or imported in small volumes (1–10 t/a) are free from full- range safety assessment obligations with the aim of costs cutting Reduced fees should be applied only to the chemicals that pose no potential risk to the environment and human health.
(3) The tonnage range from 10 to 100 tonnes p.a For substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 10 tonnes or above, a chemical safety report incorpo- rating safety and risk assessment data must be submitted Usage information
Fig 2.2 REACH registration timescale and relevant risk management measures brought forward to consumers are used as a supplement to safety data (Fig.2.3).
Evaluationis a check of registration dossiers REACH provides for three different evaluation processes:
• Compliance check (e.g., for individually submitted dossiers) The Agency checks the compliance of submitted registration dossiers with legal requirements, which includes revision of the dossier and submission of an updated version by registrants, if necessary.
• Substance evaluation The Agency clarifies suspicion that a substance may constitute a risk to human health and to the environment by requesting further information on the manufacturing process of the substance.
As a result of the evaluation process, the Agency can impose authorization proce- dures, production restrictions or forward the information on a substance to the competent authorities that will make conclusion for any possible follow-up actions.
Authorization Any manufacturers, importers, and downstream users wishing to market or use of the Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) must receive a special authorization Among these are CMR substances (carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic substances), PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic), vPvBs (very
Fig 2.3 Chemical use conditions persistent and very bioaccumulative) Substances identified as Persistent, Bioaccu- mulative, and Toxic (PBT) and very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative (vPvB) must be substituted with less hazardous alternatives, while carcinogenic and muta- genic chemicals are subject to less stringent conditions if accompanied with docu- menting that the risks arising from the manufacture or use of the substance are adequately controlled In this case, the safe threshold is introduced to ensure human exposure is well below this threshold level In case less hazardous alternatives are not available, the replacement must take place at a later stage, while the replacement time is fixed on a case-by-case basis.
Restriction Restrictions are a legislative tool used to protect human health and the environment from unacceptable risks posed by chemicals.
Classification and labeling REACH offers new classification and labeling systems There are three main notions that are used in the REACH Regulations: substance, mixture, and article.
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling
Fig 2.7 The HMIS labelying for hazardous material
2.4 Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
(1) Chemical classification and labeling system
In an effort to raise the awareness of the hazardous properties of chemicals many countries have elaborated their proper systems of classification and labeling ensuring safe production, transportation, and handling of these substances For instance, labeling requirements are incorporated into the Law on Chemicals (Finland), the Act on Dangerous Products (Canada), and the Hazardous Materials Identification System (the USA) HMIS uses four color-coded bar symbols with blue indicating the level of health hazard, red for flammability, yellow for a physical hazard and white for personal protection White section indicates which personal protection equipment should be used when working with the material The number ratings range from 0 to
Each of these systems reflects local specifics and thus is not compatible with each other For this reason, one product can sometimes be marked with different labels and annotations featuring several different systems simultaneously Entering the global market manufacturers and importers are bound to mark and classify chemicals in compliance with the systems of the states they trade with In 1992, the negotiation on the globally harmonized system of classification and labeling of chemicals (GlobalHarmonized System, GHS) was launched at the UN Conference on SustainableDevelopment In 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, GHS was recommended to be implemented by virtue of respective national and international instruments by 2008 However, Regulation№1272/2008 (“GHS”) came into force only on January 20, 2009 The gradual transition toward the new system is to be made by June 1, 2015, when the preceding regulations are eventually revoked.
(2) The GHS label elements that are subject to harmonization:
Hazard classes: Hazards are generally subdivided into three categories:phys- ical, health, and environmental hazards GHS recognizes the following phys- ical hazards: (1) Explosives; (2) Flammable Gases; (3) Flammable Aerosols; (4) Oxidizing Gases; (5) Gases Under Pressure; (6) Flammable Liquids; (7) Flammable Solids; (8) Self-Reactive Substances; (9) Pyrophoric Liquids; (10) Pyrophoric Solids;
(11) Self-Heating Substances; (12) Substances which, in contact with water emit flammable gases; (13) Oxidizing Liquids; (14) Oxidizing Solids; (15) Organic Peroxides; and (16) Corrosive to Metals.
Health Hazard : (1) Acute Toxicity; (2) Skin Corrosion/Irritation; (3) Serious
Eye Damage/Eye Irritation; (4) Respiratory or Skin Sensitization; (5) Germ Cell Mutagenicity; (6) Carcinogenicity; (7) Reproductive Toxicology; (8) Target Organ Systemic Toxicity—Single Exposure; (9) Target Organ Systemic Toxicity— Repeated Exposure; (10) Aspiration Toxicity.
Environmental Hazard : (1) Aquatic Hazard; (2) Ozone Layer Hazard.
Symbols (hazard pictograms) : There are nine pictograms conveying health, phys- ical, and environmental hazard information, assigned to a GHS hazard class and cate- gory Phasing out the prior Regulation 67/548/EEC pictograms, GHS designed new symbols for carcinogenicity and products that contain gas under pressure Further- more, the toxicity pictogram has also changed and is now represented by Exclamation Mark Symbol (Fig.2.8).
Signal words : The signal word indicates the relative degree of severity a hazard.
The signal words used in the GHS are “Danger” for the more severe hazards, and
“Warning” for the less severe hazards Signal words are standardized and assigned to the hazard categories within endpoints Some lower-level hazard categories do not use signal words.
Hazard and precautionary statements: H-phrases(Hazard statements) assigned a unique alphanumerical code to provide a brief description of the main hazard asso- ciated with exposure to the product The alphanumerical code includes ciphered information on the nature and degree of the hazard The first digit of the code repre- sents the hazard type and the other two serve for the consecutive numbering of the
Fig 2.8 GHS symbols (A) and Regulation 67/548/EEC symbols (B)
H-phrases (Table2.1).P-phrases(Precautionary statements) are designated similar codes that are intended to form a set of standardized phrases giving advice about the correct handling of chemical substances, which can help to minimize or prevent adverse effects associated with exposure to the product.
At present, approximately 65 countries have adopted GHS or are in the process of adopting GHS (Table2.2).
Table 2.1 The examples of H- and P-phrases
Health hazard H300—Fatal if swallowed
Environmental hazard H400—Very toxic to aquatic life
General precautionary statements P101—If medical advice is needed, have a product container or label at hand Prevention precautionary statements P202—Do not handle until all safety precautions have been read and understood Response precautionary statements P310—Immediately call a POISON CENTER or doctor/physician Storage precautionary statements P402—Store in a dry place
Disposal precautionary statements P502—Dispose of contents/container in accordance with local/national/international regulation (to be specified)
Argentina France Malta South Africa Australia The Gambia Mauritius South Korea Austria Germany Mexico Spain
Bolivia Hungary New Zealand Switzerland Brazil Iceland Nigeria Thailand Brunei Indonesia Norway The Czech Republic Bulgaria Ireland Paraguay The Netherlands Cambodia Italy Poland The Philippines
Chili Laos Romania The USA
Cyprus Liechtenstein Senegal Vietnam Denmark Lithuania Serbia Zambia Ecuador Luxemburg Singapore
Estonia Madagascar SlovakiaFinland Malaysia Slovenia
1 Bergkamp L (2013) The European Union reach regulation for chemicals: law and practice. Oxford University Press, New York
2 Li ZJ, Zheng JG (2020) Information quick reference manual for hazardous chemicals: GHS and TDG classification and identification of hazardous chemicals catalogue Chemical Industry Press, Beijing
3 Xu WM (2019) Responsible care and safety technology Chemical Industry Press, Beijing
4 Provisions on Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances http://www.mee. gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bl/201002/t20100201_185231.htm Accessed 19 Jan 2010
5 Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, Environmental Management Measures for New Chemical Substances http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/article/b/g/200405/200 40500221112.shtml
6 BACL http://www.baclcorp.com.cn/show.asp?para=en_2_49_1188
Abstract The implementation of green chemistry principles and green technology makes the process of organic synthesis safer From the green chemistry point of view, E-factor, atom efficiency, or atom economy are generally accepted new criteria to measure the effectiveness of the organic chemical reactions Green chemistry also enjoys the advantage of catalytic reactions Catalysts can be of several types including homogeneous catalysts, heterogeneous catalysts, biocatalysts, and as well as phase-transfer catalysts Chemical synthesis has to be environmentally friendly, whereas the majority of the solvents applied now are volatile organic substances that are inflammable, explosive, and harmful to the environment In this regard, there are several alternative approaches in green chemistry including solvent less chemistry, use of dimethylcarbonate, carrying out reactions at supercritical conditions, use of ionic liquids, and as well as the use of the fluorous biphasic systems Green chemistry should have green reactions and technologies Following the 12 principles of green chemistry which require a certain strategy and expertise, commonly the set of indi- cators are used for assessing the critical points of the process The safety analysis is a systematic study of the process, aimed at identifying potential causes of accidents, risk assessment, which they represent, and finding measures to reduce this risk The substitution of hazardous materials by more benign ones is a core principle of green chemistry, and a key feature in ISD (Inherently safer design).
Keywords Green chemical synthesisãGreen catalysisãGreen solventsã Process safetyãProcess intensification