The ten principles of green sample preparation

The ten principles of GSP are presented with the aim of establishing a road map toward the development of overall greener analytical methodologies. Paramount aspects for greening sample preparation and their interconnections are identified and discussed. These include the use of safe solvents/reagents and materials that are renewable, recycled and reusable, minimizing waste generation and energy demand, and enabling high sample throughput, miniaturization, procedure simplification/automation, and operator's safety. Further, the importance of applying green metrics for assessing the greenness of sample preparation methods is highlighted, next to the contribution of GSP in achieving the broader goal of sustainability. Green sample preparation is sample preparation. It is not a new subdiscipline of sample preparation but a guiding principle that promotes sustainable development through the adoption of environmentally benign sample preparation procedures. • The ten principles of green sample preparation are presented. • Sustainability issues on solvents, reagents and materials are considered. • Fast, miniaturized, automated, in situ and low-energy methods are preferred. • Post-sample preparation configuration for analysis is considered. • Green metrics and the impact on sustainable development are discussed.