Organic Solvents: Properties, Applications & Health Effects

Green Chemistry is a philosophy that has been implemented in different areas of science. Organic solvents allow recovery of bioactive compounds without contaminating the environment, since they are non-petroleum solvents and cheap. This book focuses on the properties, applications and health effects of organic solvents. Chapter One examines the chemistry and food applications of green solvents. Chapter Two analyses the use of green solvent in the extraction of bioactive compounds. Chapter Three gives a thermochemical description of the stabilising/destabilising effect of organic solvent molecules on the stability of model enzyme (bovine pancreatic alpha-chymotrypsin) to elucidate what intermolecular processes produce the main effect on the stability and functioning of the enzymes at high and low water content in organic liquids. Chapter Four reviews a novel experimental method was proposed to study the stability of enzymes in water-organic mixtures. Chapter Five discusses the metrology of exposure to organic solvents in the shoe industry of Sfax, Tunisia.