Earth Day 2026: Highlighting a Blind Spot

LCGC International spoke to Elia Psillakis of the Technical University of Crete about GreenSOL, the first solvent selection guide developed specifically for analytical chemistry, and what it reveals about the often‑hidden environmental trade‑offs embedded in everyday laboratory practice.^1,2

In this interview clip, Psillakis answered the following question:

• GreenSOL includes deuterated solvents for the first time in any guide — what did the assessment reveal about their true environmental burden?

GreenSOL helps chemists make more sustainable solvent choices by assessing impacts across the full life cycle of a solvent, from production to laboratory use and waste disposal. Rather than relying solely on hazard or toxicity data, GreenSOL highlights hidden trade‑offs such as energy‑intensive manufacture or disposal challenges. The guide evaluates 58 solvents, including deuterated solvents for the first time, using a transparent scoring system.

Each solvent is scored on a 1–10 scale within each life cycle phase, with additional sub‑scores that distinguish between specific impacts such as energy demand, health hazards, environmental release, and suitability for recycling or biotreatment. Rather than producing a single “green” ranking, GreenSOL is designed to highlight where impacts occur, helping users avoid shifting problems from one stage of the solvent’s life to another.

An accompanying free web tool can help users to compare solvents and identify greener alternatives for real laboratory applications.

Across the interviews, the discussion touches upon solvents as systems with impacts spanning production, use, and disposal. Applying this life cycle lens often challenges long‑held assumptions about solvents considered benign, prompting analysts to rethink what “safe” and “green” mean in practice. Psillakis also challenges the belief that bio‑based solvents are inherently more sustainable, showing how bio‑origin does not automatically reduce environmental burden across all life cycle stages. In addition, the inclusion of deuterated solvents in GreenSOL, which are essential for techniques like NMR, but have previously been overlooked in green solvent guides.

Psillakis is a professor in water chemistry at the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Greece. She is head of the Sample Preparation Network of the EuChemS-Division of Analytical Chemistry and the founder and director of ExtraTECH Analytical Solutions, a spin-off company of the Technical University of Crete.

References

1. Stampolaki, E.; Mondello, A.; Alladio, E.; et al. GreenSOL: Green Solvent Guide for Analytical Chemistry Based on Production-to-End-of-Life Assessment. TrAC 2026, 194, 118531. DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2025.118531
2. Psillakis, E. Green and Sustainable Analytical Laboratories: Myths, Truths and Opportunities. Presented at analytica 2026, in Munich, Germany. https://analytica.de/en/event-program/conference/lecture/green-and-sustainable-analytical-laboratories-myths-truths-and-opportunities-16098/ (accessed 2026-04-15).