An ecological perspective on nanomaterial impacts in the environment
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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Experimental Protocol to Investigate Particle Aerosolization of a Product Under Abrasion and Under Environmental Weathering
Published on: September 16, 2016
Emily S Bernhardt1, Benjamin P Colman, Michael F Hochella
1Dep. of Biology, Box 90338, Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708, USA. ebernhar@duke.edu
Abstract:
Growing concerns over the potential for unintended, adverse consequences of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in the environment have generated new research initiatives focused on understanding the ecological effects of ENPs. Almost nothing is currently known about the fate and transport of ENPs in environmental waters, soils, and sediments or about the biological impacts of ENPs in natural environments, and the bulk of modern nanotoxicogical research is focused on highly controlled laboratory studies with single species in simple media. In this paper, we provide an ecological perspective on the current state of knowledge regarding the likely environmental impacts of nanomaterials and propose a strategy for making rapid progress in new research in ecological nanoscience.
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