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Detailed biological studies of methyl- and some ethylimidazolium ionic liquids in luminescent bacteria as well as in the IPC-81 (leukemia cells) and C₆ (glioma cells) rat cell lines are presented. Effective concentrations in these test systems are generally some orders of magnitude lower than the toxicity of the conventional solvents acetone, acetonitrile, methanol, and methyl t-butyl ether. No general influence of the anionic compound in the ionic liquids on toxicity could be found, although they seem to modulate toxicity in some cases. The clear influence of the alkyl chain length on toxicity was quantified by linear regression analysis. Alkyl chain length of the longer alkyl chain was varied from 3 to 10 carbon atoms. Consequences for a design of sustainable alternative solvents are briefly sketched.