Fate and Transport of Nanomaterials in Aquatic Environments - Nanotechnologies for Water Environment Applications - page 475

Table 15.1 shows several important considerations for determining fate and transport of
NMs (or any other contaminants) in the environment.
Figure 15.1 Some possible exposure routes for NMs and NPs based on current and
potential future applications. Adapted from National Institute for Resources and
Environment, Japan < http://www.nire.go.jp/eco_tec_e/hyouka_e.htm>.
Although information on fundamental processes affecting the fate and transport
of contaminants in the environment are widely available in the literature (Knox et al.,
1993; Clark, 1996; Logan, 1999), such information is insufficient for NMs, mainly
because most of the studies on NMs' fate and transport, transformation, and exposure
potential were performed recently (see http://www.epa.gov/ncer/nano) and most of these
studies were bench-scale tests in the laboratories (EC, 2004; Wiesner et al., 2006;