Environmental fate and toxicity of ionic liquids: a review.
Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with low melting point that are being considered as green replacements for industrial volatile organic compounds. The reputation of these solvents as "environmental friendly" chemicals is based primarily on their negligible vapor pressure. Nonetheless, the solubility of ILs in water and a number of literature documenting toxicity of ILs to aquatic organisms highlight a real cause for concern. The knowledge of ILs behavior in the terrestrial environment, which includes microbial degradation, sorption and desorption, is equally important since both soil and aquatic milieu are possible recipients of IL contamination. This article reviews the achievements and current status of environmental risk assessment of ILs, and hopefully provides insights into this research frontier.
Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Chonbuk 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Thi Phuong Thuy
TP
Pham
Chul-Woong
CW
Cho
Yeoung-Sang
YS
Yun
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000187:drug effects; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000187:drug effects; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000187:drug effects; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018675:Toxicity Tests
D003603:Cytotoxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D004798:Enzymes; D052578:Ionic Liquids