How Ecofriendly is your Process? A Brief Review of Evaluation Methods

Green chemistry has emerged since 1990´s decade as a guide to minimize environmental impact of chemical processes based on Paul Anastas´ twelve principles, such as atomic economy, minimizing generation of hazardous residues and energy efficiency. However, as researchers carry out ecofriendly processes based on these principles, a question arises…how can researchers evaluate the environmental impact of the processes they develop? This review attempts to summarize different ways to evaluate such impact.