Chemistry strives to go green

Nature : Green chemistry is becoming an increasingly popular field, now that chemical companies struggle to deal with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. The term was introduced in 1991 by Paul Anastas, then a 28-year-old staff chemist with the Environmental Protection Agency. Anastas’s conception of green chemistry centered on redesigning chemical processes from the ground upâmdash;making industrial chemistry safer, cleaner, and more energy-efficient. Nature‘s Katharine Sanderson takes an in-depth look at green chemistry, its benefits, and its costs.