The growing process of industrialization was a milestone for world economic evolution. Since the 1940s, social movements have revolutionized green chemistry and provided shifts in industrial positions and sustainable processes with advances in environmental impact and awareness of companies and population. Paul Anastas and John Warner, in the 1990s, postulated the 12 principles of Green Chemistry, which are based on the minimization or non-use of toxic solvents in chemical processes and analyzes, as well as, the non-generation of residues from these processes. One of the most active areas of Research and Development in Green Chemistry is the development of analytical methodologies, giving rise to the so-called Green Analytical Chemistry. The impacts of green chemistry on pharmaceutical analyzes, environmental, population, analyst and company are described in this review and they are multidimensional. Every choice and analytical attitude has consequences both in the final product and in everything that surrounds it. The future of green chemistry as well as our future and the environment is also contemplated in this work.

Introduction

Since the 1940s, environmental issues began to emerge in relation to the growth of industrial activities. In the face of environmental problems and concerns, companies have changed their position on conventional production and product development habits through conferences, political agreements and advances in chemical research and ecological engineering adopting sustainable processes to the present. In the 1990s, Paul Anastas and John Warner postulated the 12 principles of Green Chemistry, still in use today, that rely on the minimization or non-use of toxic solvents in chemical processes and analyzes, as well as the non-generation of wastes from these processes. These principles propose environmentally favorable actions from the planning of the product to its synthesis, processing, analysis and its destination after use (Anastas, 1999). The main objective is to minimize the environmental and occupational hazards inherent in industrial activities (Anastas, 1999; Lenardão et al., 2003; Prado, 2003). Later, Paul Anastas discussed the importance of using these 12 principles in the development of new methods and analytical techniques, with the purpose of reducing their environmental impacts (Anastas, 1999). Thus, one of the most active areas of Research and Development in Green Chemistry is the development of analytical methodologies. New methods and techniques that are able to reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances in all stages of chemical analysis are the main goals of the so-called Green Analytical Chemistry (Anastas, 1999; Sanseverino, 2000; Nolasco et al., 2006; Guardia and Armenta, 2012). In this context, Galuszka, Migaszewski and Namienski, in the year 2013, adapted the 12 principles of Green Chemistry, to better fit the Green Analytical Chemistry. The impacts of green chemistry are multidimensional. Each analytical choice has consequences both in the final product and in everything that surrounds it, from the environment, population, analyst and even the company. Thus, this work shows a critical review of the (i) history and (ii) evolution of green chemistry, as well as its (iii) impact on pharmaceutical analyzes, environment, population, analyst, company and our future.