The Principles of Green Chemistry
Our latest blog series is designed to guide chemists towards a greener, more sustainable laboratory. Each of the blogs in this series will explore one principle. If you missed previous ones, they can be found here.
Fourth Principle: Design Safer Chemicals

We are a third of the way through our review of the American Chemical Society’s Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry, and generally, we have focused on processes, especially concerning solvents. The fourth Principle, design safer chemicals, is admittedly one of the most challenging for chemists, given the general scope of their work. As Nicholas D. Anastas, Ph.D., of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – New England states, it “may be one of the most challenging aspects of designing safer products and processes. Achieving this goal requires understanding not only chemistry but also the principles of toxicology and environmental science.”1
For example, cell and gene therapies should minimize toxicity to patients and the environment. Therefore, the design phase must consider biodegradability and components’ safety profiles.
However, in the pharmaceutical world, it can be argued that when chemistry is designed to cure deadly diseases or at least make a patient’s life more comfortable, there might be some latitude in the ability to “design safer chemicals.” Nevertheless, the chemist should strive to design molecules with the least environmental impact.
Worth the Effort
Chemists can utilize toxicologists and data to apply new metrics and issue guidelines to better assess the safety of chemicals. Toxicology Testing In the 21st Century (Tox21) is a significant collaboration between the EPA, NIH (including the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), and the Food and Drug Administration.2 Some publications and resources offered there will assist in adhering to this Principle and establishing greener end products coming out of the lab.
References
- https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/greenchemistry/principles/12-principles-of-green-chemistry.html
- https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/toxicology-testing-21st-century-tox21