The Era of Nanomaterials: A Safe Solution or a Risk for Marine Environmental Pollution?

Abstract

In recent years, the application of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in environmental remediation gained increasing attention. Due to their large surface area and high reactivity, ENMs offer the potential for the efficient removal of pollutants from environmental matrices with better performances compared to conventional techniques. However, their fate and safety upon environmental application, which can be associated with their release into the environment, are largely unknown. It is essential to develop systems that can predict ENM interactions with biological systems, their overall environmental and human health impact. Until now, Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools have been employed to investigate ENMs potential environmental impact, from raw material production, design and to their final disposal. However, LCA studies focused on the environmental impact of the production phase lacking information on their environmental impact deriving from in situ employment. A recently developed eco-design framework aimed to fill this knowledge gap by using ecotoxicological tools that allow the assessment of potential hazards posed by ENMs to natural ecosystems and wildlife. In the present review, we illustrate the development of the eco-design framework and review the application of ecotoxicology as a valuable strategy to develop ecosafe ENMs for environmental remediation. Furthermore, we critically describe the currently available ENMs for marine environment remediation and discuss their pros and cons in safe environmental applications together with the need to balance benefits and risks promoting an environmentally safe nanoremediation (ecosafe) for the future.

The Acute and Short-Term Inhalation of Carbon Nanofiber in Sprague-Dawley Rats

“…The TCNFs used in the current inhalation study had similar physicochemical properties to the vapor-grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNF h, Showa Denko KK, Japan) used in a previous 90 days inhalation study based on OECD test guideline 413 and the Pyrograph CNFs used in several aspiration studies [ 3 , 4 ]. While these CNFs are all manufactured using a similar methodology, TCNFs have a thinner diameter, higher aspect ratio, and larger BET surface area when compared with other CNFs.…”

“…In particular, the application of nanotechnology to the biomedical field can bring risks that nanotechnology can bring along with opportunities for new therapeutic and diagnostic technology development. In some cases, biomedical applications are considered due to the superior properties of nanomaterials but are no longer applied due to risk issues [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), defined as nanofibers composed of carbon, are widely used in commerce due to their broad range of applications [ 4 ].…”

Eco-Interactions of Engineered Nanomaterials in the Marine Environment: Towards an Eco-Design Framework

“…The incorporation an ecotoxicity testing strategy will allow not only to re-design already existing ENMs which have been shown detrimental effects on living organisms but to define the way they should be manipulated from the beginning up to the end of their life cycle [ 228 , 229 ]. The development of new ENMs, for instance, those able to remove organic and inorganic contaminants and reduce their bioavailability in water media (e.g., nanoremediation), currently does not imply a testing framework for their environmental safety (eco-safety) in terms of effects for marine biota [ 230 ]. By including ecotoxicity in the testing framework, effect concentrations can be obtained and merged with efficacy concentrations of the ENM itself in order to reduce/limit any risk associated with their field application.…”

Fungal bioassays for environmental monitoring

“…The expansion of the anthropogenic activities to attend to the rising global demand for a diversity of products has generated an exponential increase in the release of different pollutants into the air, soil, and aquatic compartments ( Esposito et al, 2021 ). These pollutants, that fall into a broad category of xenobiotic compounds, are released in large quantities into the environment, very often on the fringes of the law, and, unfortunately, they are not readily degraded by indigenous microfauna and flora, being bioaccumulate and biomagnified along the food chain ( Wasi et al, 2013 ; Zenker et al, 2014 ).…”