Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks Associated with Nanotechnology

Jasmina Markovski,Kiril D Hristovski

doi:10.30544/404

Jasmina Markovski, Kiril D Hristovski

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.30544/404

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Abstract

Their small sizes enable nanomaterials to express novel properties that have created a revolution in science and technology since their discovery in the 1990s. The new transport, morphology and material properties of nano-enabled products, however, have imposed revision of environmental, health, and safety risk assessments and management concepts previously established for conventional materials. At the current stage of nanotechnology development, uncertainties still exist due to the inability to adequately quantify and characterize nano-enabled products properties in complex matrices, including living organisms and the environment. The multidisciplinary effort is required for the development of analytical tools and methods that provide answers to multiple nanomaterial-related properties and help explicate the property exposure and property-hazard relationships from a life cycle perspective.

Highlights

Nanotechnology - An Enabling Technology Historically, there have been a series of enabling technologies, which propelled society forward by enhancing the production of goods, food, materials, energy, and medicine; and improving communications, transportation, and the environment
This principle represents the closes link to the conventional chemistry-based models that are dominating the risk assessment and management arena. While these established models represent a great starting point to incorporate some facets of the material principle, they need to evolve beyond considering only toxic properties of conventional chemicals by incorporating other important aspects of materials that stem from chemistry. Bringing it All Together and Moving Forward At this stage of nanotechnology development, immense uncertainties exist when attempting to predict or assess the risks associated with the development of nanomaterials and nano-enabled products
The majority of uncertainties stem from the inability to adequately simultaneously quantify and characterize properties in complex matrices, including living organisms and the environment

Summary

Introduction

Nanotechnology - An Enabling Technology Historically, there have been a series of enabling technologies, which propelled society forward by enhancing the production of goods, food, materials, energy, and medicine; and improving communications, transportation, and the environment. Toxicity of a material is directly related to the received dose, which is a product of a measurable concentration and the exposure time [6, 7]. Nanomaterial shape, size, morphology, composition, chemistry, crystallinity, and reactivity are some of the key factors that direct toxicity [9, 10].

Results

Conclusion