Chapter 8 - Nanotoxicology and Remediation

Abstract

Various governments have become more aware of the possible benefits as well as the dangers of exposure to nanomaterials (NMs) in various consumer products. This awareness has led to various guidelines worldwide which resulted in the recognition for a need to evaluate the possible effects on health and environmental safety. However, the current limitations in the risk assessment of NMs are still preventing proper evaluations, and probably, the possible adoption of strict regulations. Currently, the knowledge on the presence of NMs relies only on information provided by manufacturers. Detection of NMs in consumer products suffers from the difficulty in discriminating between the background signals and added NMs which is further complicated by the coating proteins and other biomolecules on NMs exposed to biological matrix. This chapter focuses on the health and environmental hazards of NMs for a variety of manufactured NMs that may be toxic to humans and the environment. It also discusses the current status of patent landscape in nanotechnology as well as the growing market projections.