Green analytical methods and principles of green analytical chemistry

The chemical field, in previous years, has worked through a linear process, and this type of trend caused large waste volume and accumulation, leading to the current crisis of pollution and the environment. In the last century, industrial activity has been growing up so fast, but on the other hand, this has caused quite a few environmental problems, such as leading the search for new approaches that are about more eco-friendly chemical research and ecological engineering. In this scenario, starting in early 1990 with the birth of green chemistry (GC), a continuous improvement in greenness research has been observed, which nowadays reaches green analytical chemistry (GAC) and green sample preparation (GSP). All these principles, concepts, and tools are widely used to make the different methods greener, with a reduced environmental impact and reduced waste production. In this chapter, these points will be considered and analyzed to better highlight how chemistry, and particularly analytical chemistry, can help in this process.