Nano and the environment
Updated on:Thursday 11 of May 2006
The impact of nanotech on health and the environment seems to be a potential new source for scare stories and horror fiction (e.g. Michael Crichton's "Prey"). The European Union's Nanoforum and the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy) organised a workshop on "Nano and the Environment" in Brussels in March 2006, which was the forum for a wide-ranging discussion.
Highlights include:
- Detection methods: Nanotechnology offers improvements in detection of pollutants in air and water (through solid state sensors and biosensors), however there are as yet no appropriate systems available for the detection and characterisation of nanoparticles. In particular those techniques capable of measuring key parameters related to surface area, shape and chemical reactivity are restricted to bulky, low through-put devices.
- Life-cycle analysis (LCA): New materials and products must be subjected to a full LCA, which is a methodology that is adapted and applied to different scenarios and takes into account all of the raw materials and energy consumption of a product from manufacture (including waste materials and their disposal), through use, to disposal or recycling. The LCA must also take account of different usage scenarios which will be dependent on social impacts (e.g. will the introduction of a new product encourage people to purchase more of the same or similar item, or use it more extensively than an existing item on the market).
- Sustainability: Nanomaterials offer significant savings in raw material and energy requirements (e.g. nanofoams with higher insulation ratings, or more powerful and higher energy rechargeable batteries), however materials used for new products should be ideally sourced from renewable or abundant resources. If this is not possible then robust strategies for the recovery or recycling of materials must be put in place, ideally based on closed material loops that take full consideration of the energy requirements. This is particularly important when rare materials are used in small amounts that are widely distributed in products, and which can consequently be widely dispersed in the environment (e.g. platinum in catalytic converters through exhaust fumes, or indium in LCD screens and solar cells). Understanding these mobility issues is essential for the proper application of LCA.
- Risk assessment: Initially this should focus on the structure-function relationship of new nanomaterials and the mechanisms by which these might impact biological systems (i.e. building a predictive model of potential risks rather than assessing each nanomaterial individually: for example it is well documented that increasing the solubility of different nanoparticles decreases their toxicity). Risk assessments should take full account of both the hazard presented by a specific material as well as the probability of exposure of that material to humans or environmental species, and its possible release into the environment.
- Remediation: Nanomaterials have been shown to offer marked improvements to existing strategies for the removal of toxic materials from the environment (e.g. arsenic from ground water), however there are concerns over the use of free nanoparticles for remediation (for reasons of both sustainability and risk). Immobilising nanoparticles in a stable matrix or using nanostructured surfaces (where nanodomains essentially have the same functionality and activity as free nanoparticles) concentrates material in one place, thus decreasing dispersion, making recovery simpler and decreasing the probability of exposure.
- Challenges for commercialisation: There is a gap between research supported by public funding and the extent to which the results of this research can be commercialised by industry. Several factors are involved. One is the difficulty of scaling up to pilot production, which can require considerable volumes of materials (greater than can be easily produced by research labs) and the comparatively few facilities available to do this. Another is the creation of a market need for the technologies. New technologies must be benchmarked against existing ones to ensure that they live up to claims of improved functionality, energy consumption, sensitivity, efficiency, longevity, decreased environmental impact (e.g. increased water quality), etc. There is a need to involve small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in this process and to develop a far-reaching outlook on the development of new technologies, which can be facilitated by European Technology Platforms (ETP).
- Communication: This is seen as critical and should involve research scientists and technologists, life-cycle assessors, policy makers, and other stakeholders, to ensure that identified needs are being met, that sustainability is built in at the start of product development, and that there is an adequate regulatory or legislative framework to support this. Communication is also essential between academic research and industry to improve technology transfer, and between industry and consumers to identify needs and market new applications. In respect of the latter, policy makers can assist by helping to promote a market for environmentally friendly products through regulatory and legislative frameworks.
- Policy initiatives: These should encourage the development and uptake of environmental nanotechnologies. This includes issuing clear guidelines on environmental safety limits of particulates and pollutants (which would in turn drive technology development and commercialisation of the required monitoring devices), and the inclusion of environmental criteria in new calls for proposals.
- Co-operation: Both research and technology development (RTD) scientists and those researching the impacts of materials on the environment and health must co-operate and share knowledge at the earliest stages of new developments, to ensure that new materials and technologies are developed to be both environment- and health-friendly.
- Education: This is necessary to ensure that all stakeholders (from developers to regulators to consumers) understand the environmental impacts (both positive and negative) of existing and new products; so that they can make an informed choice for development, regulation, or purchase.
- Social implications: Individual accountability could be increased by the development of ubiquitous sensor systems; however, this also raises privacy issues. There is also the ethical question in relation to utilisation of materials from sources where there are welfare or civil rights concerns.
A detailed report of the workshop has been produced on the presentations and discussions, with the hope of broadening the input of ideas to this important topic. The workshop brought together approximately 50 different stakeholders drawn from academic research, environmental research, industry, industrial associations, regulators, and government agencies, each with differing experience and perspectives on the key issues facing the responsible implementation of nanotechnologies for the environment.
The workshop was divided into three consecutive sessions: monitoring, remediation and pollution, and resource saving. Each session consisted of short presentations from experts and an equal length of time for discussion of the broader issues.
Source: http://www.nanoforum.org/
