title: A brief overview of the potential environmental hazards of ionic liquids.
abstract: Over past decades ionic liquids, a promising alternative to traditional organic solvents, have been dramatically expanding in popularity as a new generation of chemicals with potential uses in various areas in industry. In the literature these compounds have often been referred to as environmentally friendly; however, in recent years the perception of their greenness dramatically changed as the scientific community began to proactively assess the risk of their application based on the entire life-cycle. This review gives a brief overview of the current knowledge regarding the potential risks linked to the application of ionic liquids - from preparation to their disposal, with special emphasis on their potential environmental impacts and future directions in designing inherently safer ionic liquids.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Cell Culture Technology, Application and Biotransformations, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Marina Cvjetko
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bubalo
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radošević
authors.forename: Ivana Radojčić
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Redovniković
authors.forename: Jasna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Halambek
authors.forename: Višnja Gaurina
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Srček
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004777:Environment; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D052578:Ionic Liquids
keywords: (Bio)degradation; Environmental fate; Ionic liquids; Synthesis; Toxicity