The 12 principles of green analytical chemistry and the SIGNIFICANCE mnemonic of green analytical practices

•12 green analytical chemistry (GAC) principles are proposed.•Condensed green analytical chemistry (GAC) principles as mnemonic SIGNIFICANCE.•The key components of green analysis are discussed.

The current rapid development of green analytical chemistry (GAC) requires clear, concise guidelines in the form of GAC principles that will be helpful in greening laboratory practices. The existing principles of green chemistry and green engineering need revision for their use in GAC because they do not fully meet the needs of analytical chemistry.In this article we propose a set of 12 principles consisting of known concepts (i.e. reduction in the use of reagents and energy, and elimination of waste, risk and hazard) together with some new ideas (i.e. the use of natural reagents), which will be important for the future of GAC.