Toxicity of ionic liquids

The dramatic growth in ionic liquid research over the past decade has resulted in the development of a huge number of novel ionic liquids, as well as many associated applications. The perceived environmentally friendly nature of ionic liquids, which results from their negligible vapor pressure, is now under scrutiny since although they will not evaporate into air, it is not possible to guarantee that they will never enter the environment. Toxicity research studies including ecotoxicity, have recently received broad attention and the commonly accepted notion that ionic liquids have low toxicity has been shown to be incorrect. This review attempts to highlight the progress of ionic liquid toxicity research, as well as the development of degradable and bio-renewable ionic liquids.