AMEC has announced that the potential hazards and benefits of nanotechnology are revealed in a newly published book co-authored by four AMEC scientists.
The hardcover Nanotechnology and the Environment, published by CRC Press, explores how nanoscale materials can behave differently in the human body and the environment and how the explosive use of such materials could impact human health and environmental quality.
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on the molecular level to produce extremely tiny particles. Industries and governments are aggressively investigating ways to use nanoscale materials to make products stronger, more useful, or better able to withstand high temperatures.
Given that the United Nations predicts nanotechnology will encompass 14% of the global manufacturing economy by 2014, the Nanotechnology and the Environment provides excellent insight and practical applications for this fast-growing technology. The book discusses frameworks for evaluating the balance between risk and reward as nanomaterials are manufactured, used and released to the environment. It also describes the development of regulations to manage those risks.
AMEC's co-authors were senior environmental toxicologist Chris Mackay, Ph.D., senior chemist Marilyn Hoyt, environmental scientist and program manager Kim Henry and senior scientist Jan Hamblen.
The book's chapter on chemical analysis of nanoparticles in the environment was written by Ms. Hoyt, who provides insight into the challenges involved in environmental analyses of these new materials. The section on environmental movement and final destination of nanomaterials, written by Dr. Mackay and Ms. Henry, provides practical applications for these unique materials to define concentrations for the determination of human and ecological toxicity.
Dr. Mackay and Ms. Hamblen teamed on the toxicology and risk assessment section, which characterizes the unique properties of nanomaterials that affect toxicity and provides calculations to determine exposure. Ms. Henry co-authored a chapter on the potential benefits and risks from use of nanotechnology. The book provides some protocols for life cycle assessment of nanomaterials.
Posted 21/11/08
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