Development of a Three-Level Risk Assessment Strategy for Nanomaterials

Abstract

The release of nanomaterials and, in particular, free nanoparticles into the environment from secondary sources such as industrial manufacturing and consumer products as well as from intentional environmental application has compelled a need for a broad and pre-emptive analysis of nanomaterial fate and transport in the environment and subsequent potential human exposure pathways. The novel and potentially reactive characteristics of nanomaterials have lead to predictions on potential undesirable ramifications of exposure to these materials on human health. The three-level risk assessment strategy presented in this work has its basis in qualitative model equations that represent the inter-relationships between the different material and process characteristics and environmental behaviors and their relationship to potential exposure scenarios. The factors that influence these behaviors are examined, and the potential application of this risk assessment strategy in a semi-quantitative model is considered.