Fate, behaviour and toxicity of engineered nanomaterials in the environmental systems

Abstract

Historical analysis of different technologies' evolution reveals how many of them failed to achieve the intended societal benefits. This is primarily because their associated health, safety, and environmental effects were detrimental to the society, and led to their ban. During the 20th century, nanotechnology joined the ranks of among the rapidly emerging set of technologies with the potential to offer a new era, or even the next industrial manufacturing revolution. Therefore, several questions merit answers as part of enhancing our collective understanding of the potential impacts of nanomaterials in the environmental systems, and how they should be mitigated.