New Free Software Assesses Environmental Impact of HPLC Methods

Scientists from Egypt, Sweden, Denmark, and India have collaborated to develop a computational tool to assess the environmental impact of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. Yassar Gaber, Ulrika Tornvall, Magdy Ali Amin, Rajni Hatti Kaul, and M.A. Kumar wrote that “This environmental assessment tool (EAT) takes into consideration the environmental, health and safety issues for all solvents involved in the chromatographic method, and calculates a total score that can be used for comparison of the greenness of different methods.”

The HPLC-EAT software can be downloaded for free at www.chromatographyonline.com and can also be combined with another free software eco-solvent tool to perform lifecycle assessments of waste disposal options (such as distillation or incineration).

The team explained the tool in detail in an article I the June 2011 issue of Green Chemistry.

For a recent discussion of green chemistry methods, see the R.E. Majors and D. Raynie article, “The Greening of the Chromatography Laboratory,” at