Introduction - Nanotechnologies for Water Environment Applications - page 8

to replace precious metals (e.g., Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, etc.) or toxic materials (e.g., ammonia).
Currently, industry and governments have taken this firmly on board; funding for
nanotechnologies has increased steadily. The European Union, for example, has decided
to put 3.5 billion euros into nanotechnology research between 2007 and 2013, on top of
private sector investment and national research budgets. The most frequently cited
estimate is that the world market in nanotechnologies will amount to 1,000 billion
dollars by 2015 (ETUC, 2008).
1.4 Implications of Nanotechnology and Research Needs
While nanotechnology may bring us endless benefits, applications of
nanotechnology may have some potential risks (issues) to the two ecosystems. The list
of studies on the implications of nanotechnology can be very long. This topic uses three
chapters (16-18) to introduce the key issues relating to these implications.
In general, there are two types of nanostructures: (a) fixed NPs (NMs with NPs
incorporated into a substance, material or device); and (b) “free” NPs (individual NPs of
a substance). The immediate concern is with free NPs because of their mobility and
their increased reactivity. However, fixed NPs also are of great concern, particularly
when they can be released (and, thus, become free NPs) in the production lines or during
the final disposal stage. The implications of nanotechnology cover all possible areas of
both human and natural ecosystems. This section briefly covers some potential risks,
such as health/safety, environmental and societal issues, together with some research
needs on these issues.
In his 1986 topic, Eric Drexler first mentioned “gray goo,” warning of self-
replicating nanotechnology running amuck and covering the earth. While most people
downplayed this scenario, the concept brought nanotechnology to the attention of the
public. In 2005, a survey was conducted about the step(s) in the value chain of
NMs/NPs where people believe that a greater potential health, safety and environmental
(HSE) hazard may occur; the results indicate that (a) during the manufacturing of NPs,
the HSE hazard is 67.6%; (b) during the integration of NPs into a system is 40.5%; (c)
during the recycling of the NMs is 21.6%; (d) during the normal life of the application is
13.5%; and (e) during the manufacturing of the final application is 8.1% (Willems & van
den Wildenberg, 2005). While the survey results reflect the common perception of HSE
risk, many dynamic processes are not considered by normal people. For example, the
risks in manufacturing may be handled adequately through standard industry procedures,
and therefore, may not even be a major concern. However, the low assessment of risk
during the use of nanoproducts may reflect our limited knowledge of NMs (sometimes,
people even don't know they are dealing with NPs). For example, titanium dioxide
(TiO 2 ) is everywhere, in toothpaste, paint, and other products. It's now being produced