Green Strategies in Trace Analysis: A Glimpse of Simple Alternatives for Sample Pretreatment and Analyte Determination

Researches in green chemistry have mainly been focused on new synthetic rotes, aiming diminution of side products, replacement of toxic solvents, and minimization of energy consumption. However, there is a clear demand to the development of greener analytical procedures and challenges are magnified when trace analysis is concerned. This overview is focused on environmentally friendly strategies for sample pretreatment and measurement aiming determination of species in low concentrations, including tungsten coil atomic spectrometry, long pathlength spectrophotometry, flow-based methodologies, and greener strategies for analyte extraction, exploiting either retention on solid supports or surfactant-mediated processes.