Synthetic Methodology Assessment for Reduction Techniques

The purpose of the SMART module in GCES is to help chemical manufacturers to review their processes and to perform similar analyses during the course of process development prior to filing a premanufacture notification with the EPA. The SMART assessment techniques are applicable to both new and existing manufacturing processes. 

After entering all reaction data, a SMART assessment can be performed. The program then performs a series of mass-balance calculations and provides the waste quantification, hazard classification, and a qualitative level of concern. The algorithms cover single-step reactions that produce a single chemical product the software is not applicable to reactions with multiple products or for polymer reactions. In this case, the individual reactions of a synthetic sequence have to be calculated sequentially. 

The results are presented as amounts of waste for different hazardous categories (i.e., chemical tiers) as percentage of annual production volume. The categories, or tiers, are as follows  

At this stage SMART allows summary information to be retrieved about the EPA regulated chemicals in the reaction — that is, those covered in tier 2. The summary provides production amount and waste information and indicates the individual EPCRA and other regulations for the substance. 

The system can provide suggestions for alternatives from the green chemistry point of view as well as a level-of-concern assessment, which presents several concern statements about the assignment of used or produced substances to one or more of the tiers or on the waste amount. The output of a level of concern analysis might look as follows  

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Synthetic Methodology Assessment for Reduction Techniques (SMART)... 

Synthetic Methodology Assessment for Reduction Techniques (SMART) A program adapted from the EPAs SMART review process and designed to quantify and categorize hazardous materials used in a manufacturing process. Green Synthetic Reactions Provides a searchable database of synthetic processes and identifies alternative processes published to replace more hazardous materials with less hazardous ones. 

Synthetic Methodology Assessment for Reduction Techniques (SMART) is a non-regnlatory program of the EPA for achieving pollution prevention in the prodnction of new chemicals. It includes a review process for the environmental assessment and hazard classification for new chemicals. 

The "Synthetic methodology assessment for reduction techniques" (SMART) module quantifies and categorizes the hazardous substances used in or generated by a chemical reaction. 

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