OBJECTIVES: This study presents a methodology that enables a quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies. METHODS: The study carries out a quantitative evaluation of a particular case of material reutilization by calculating the level of "greenness" i.e., the level of compliance with the principles of green chemistry that was achieved by implementing a green chemistry technology. RESULTS: The results indicate that the greenness level was enhanced by 42% compared to the pre-improvement level, thus demonstrating the economic feasibility of green chemistry. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment technique established in this study will serve as a useful reference for setting the direction of industry-level and government-level technological R&D and for evaluating newly developed technologies, which can greatly contribute toward gaining a competitive advantage in the global market.
Chemistry ; Compliance ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Green Chemistry Technology*

OBJECTIVES: This study presents a methodology that enables a quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies. METHODS: The study carries out a quantitative evaluation of a particular case of material reutilization by calculating the level of "greenness" i.e., the level of compliance with the principles of green chemistry that was achieved by implementing a green chemistry technology. RESULTS: The results indicate that the greenness level was enhanced by 42% compared to the pre-improvement level, thus demonstrating the economic feasibility of green chemistry. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment technique established in this study will serve as a useful reference for setting the direction of industry-level and government-level technological R&D and for evaluating newly developed technologies, which can greatly contribute toward gaining a competitive advantage in the global market.
Chemistry ; Compliance ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Green Chemistry Technology*

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the biodegradation potential of four perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) alternatives that were developed at Changwon National University. While PFOS has been used widely in industrial and consumer products, it is known to be a persistent organic pollutant. Therefore, greener alternatives are highly desirable. METHODS: Biodegradation tests were run for 28 days using standard test protocols. The biochemical oxygen demand was measured daily throughout the experimental period, and the data were used to calculate the biodegradation rates. Microorganisms were isolated from the some of the tests that showed evidence of biodegradation. RESULTS: C8H8F9KO3S, which has the same number of carbons as the parent compound PFOS but a reduced number of fluorines, showed the highest biodegradation rate followed by C10H8F13KO3S. Chemical alternatives with lower number of carbons did not biodegrade readily in the experiments. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these results suggest that it may be advantageous to develop PFOS alternatives with 8 carbons, the same as PFOS, but a reduced number of fluorines; as such, chemicals are more susceptible to biodegradation than the parent compound.
Carbon ; Green Chemistry Technology ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Humans ; Oxygen ; Parents

OBJECTIVES: This study presents the indicators and proxy variables for the quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies and evaluates the relative importance of each assessment element by consulting experts from the fields of ecology, chemistry, safety, and public health. METHODS: The results collected were subjected to an analytic hierarchy process to obtain the weights of the indicators and the proxy variables. RESULTS: These weights may prove useful in avoiding having to resort to qualitative means in absence of weights between indicators when integrating the results of quantitative assessment by indicator. CONCLUSIONS: This study points to the limitations of current quantitative assessment techniques for green chemistry technologies and seeks to present the future direction for quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies.
Chemistry ; Ecology ; Green Chemistry Technology* ; Health Resorts ; Humans ; Proxy ; Public Health ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: This study presents the indicators and proxy variables for the quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies and evaluates the relative importance of each assessment element by consulting experts from the fields of ecology, chemistry, safety, and public health. METHODS: The results collected were subjected to an analytic hierarchy process to obtain the weights of the indicators and the proxy variables. RESULTS: These weights may prove useful in avoiding having to resort to qualitative means in absence of weights between indicators when integrating the results of quantitative assessment by indicator. CONCLUSIONS: This study points to the limitations of current quantitative assessment techniques for green chemistry technologies and seeks to present the future direction for quantitative assessment of green chemistry technologies.
Chemistry ; Ecology ; Green Chemistry Technology* ; Health Resorts ; Humans ; Proxy ; Public Health ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVEA novel green extraction technique of check valve & non-oxygen microwave assisted extraction (CVNO-MAE) for essential oils extraction was established. CVNO-MAE is a combination of microwave heating, vacuum pump and check valve, performed at anaerobic environment without added any solvent or water.

METHODCVNO-MAE has been compared with a conventional technique, solvent free microwave extraction (SFME), for the extraction of essential oils from two Chinese herbs: Curcuma phaeocaulis and Mentha haplocalyx.

RESULTGC-MS analyses of the oils revealed the presence of 36 and 37 compounds in the essential oils of C. phaeocaulis and M. haplocalyx, respectively. There was an obvious difference in the quality of essential oils obtained by the two kinds of extraction methods. The CVNO-MAE method yielded an essential oil of C. phaeocaulis with lower amounts of oxygenated compounds (45.53%) than SFME (62.38%). Higher amounts of oxygenated compounds (89.57%) were present in the M. haplocalyx essential oil of SFME in comparison with CVNO-MAE (82.74%).

CONCLUSIONCVNO-MAE is a fast low temperature extraction method carried in under pressure, appears as a good alternative for the extraction of essential oils from Chinese herbs and a green technology.

Curcuma ; chemistry ; Green Chemistry Technology ; instrumentation ; methods ; Mentha ; chemistry ; Microwaves ; Oils, Volatile ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Plant Oils ; analysis ; isolation & purification