Environmental risks of nanotechnology: A new challenge?

Abstract

A major research effort is underway around the world to understand the impacts of nanomaterials on our environment. Some occur naturally or are produced by human activity, while others are manufactured on an industrial scale, and their presence in the environment cannot be disputed. The questions raised here concern their transformations in contact with water, the mechanisms and kinetic aspects of the exposure of biological organisms in water, sediments, or soils, and their possible harmful effects on living beings. What characterises some of these nanomaterials is the fact that they dissolve in water, then reprecipitate in the form of different minerals that are less toxic because they lose their initial properties. The effects on living beings, particularly within a trophic cascade, are still poorly understood, especially since the concentrations are very low. The challenge here is to obtain a sufficient understanding of the exposure and transformation phenomena, together with the effects on organisms within the relevant trophic cascades, to be able to model the risks and hence arrive at a predictive assessment when the nanomaterials are both chemically and structurally complex. Research in this area can only be cross-disciplinary.