Green Solvents Epilogue

Solvent replacement technology is a diverse field that affects many industries. It is a field driven by regulations implemented to protect our environment and health rather than for purely economic or scientific reasons. However, these regulations often translate to economic incentives and have given rise to many exciting and innovative technologies that otherwise might never have been developed. 

It is important, however, to remember that there is a great danger in seeing technology alone as the answer to the environmental crisis. In fact, the idea that new technology is the solution to all our problems is central to the faulty way of thinking that created the crisis in the first place. 

During the debates over the Montreal Protocol, spokesmen for the CFC industry said that it was futile for the world to expect substimtes anytime soon the good news, however, is that—for most uses—replacement chemicals are already being found. 

Moreover, under the protocol, the substitutes will be made available to developing countries, which will ensure that this technology spreads as rapidly as possible. 

Just as chemists are needed to fully understand the nature and source of environmental problems that result from certain chemicals of concern released to the environment, chemists are also required to use that understanding in preventing problems from occurring in the first place. For a wide array of chemicals, the activity of a chemical of concern in the environment can be related to the molecular structure of the chemical, that is, how the atoms of the molecule are connected. Through a combination of knowledge of the nature of a chemical s hazardous properties with the ability to manipulate the chemical s structure, chemists possess the ability and skill to mitigate the hazard. 

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