Toxicity and Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials

Abstract

Extensive applications of nanomaterials (NMs) can considerably increase their release to the environment, through air, groundwater, and soil. NMs may enter the environment in the course of their lifecycle and can be toxic, which increases their risk. In the case of release to the environment, the special properties of NMs can result in undesired effects in the environment. Moreover, besides having direct toxic properties, NMs due to their specific form, surface, or charge may also interact with chemicals in an undesired way or bind nutrients. How long they survive there, and in which form, i.e. how long they persist, is still a matter of investigation. Moreover, the NMs once entered in the environment have the potential to accumulate in the environmental organisms. An important parameter for the determination of a risk of exposure to NMs is their stability and modifications forms once entered the environment. In this chapter, the details of the fate scenarios of NMs used in sample preparation and their risk assessment will be reported.