Introduction - Research Progress on Environmental Health and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials - page 3

FIGURE 1-1 Conceptual framework for the committee's research strategy depicting “sources of nanomaterials
originating throughout the lifecycle and value chain, and therefore the environmental or physiologic context that
these materials are embedded in, and the processes that they affect. The circle, identified as 'critical elements of
nanomaterial interactions,' represents the physical, chemical, and biologic properties or processes that are
considered to be the most critical for assessing exposures and hazards and hence risk” (NRC 2012, p. 55). The
lower rectangle “depicts tools needed to support an informative research agenda on critical elements of
nanomaterial interactions” (p. 56).
 “ Identification, characterization, and quantification of the origins of nanomaterial releases .
Research in this category would develop inventories on ENMs being produced and used, identify and
characterize the ENMs being released and the populations and environments being exposed, and assess
exposures to measure the quantity and characteristics of materials being released and to model releases
throughout their life cycle.
 “Processes that affect both potential hazards and exposure. Research topics . . . would include
the role of nanoparticle-macromolecular interactions in regulating and modifying nanoparticle behavior
on scales ranging from genes to ecosystems; the effects of particle-surface modification on aggregation
and nanoparticle bioavailability, reactivity, and toxicity potential; processes that affect nanomaterial
transport across biologic or synthetic membranes; and the development of relationships between the
structure of nanomaterials and their transport, fate, and effects. As an element of this research category,
instrumentation and standard methods will need to be developed to relate ENM properties to their hazard
and exposure potential and to determine the types and extent of ENM transformations in environmental
and biologic systems.
 “Nanomaterial interactions in complex systems ranging from subcellular systems to ecosystems . .
. . Examples of research in this category include efforts to understand the relationships between in vitro
and in vivo responses; prediction of system-level effects, such as ecosystem functions (for example,
nutrient cycling), in response to ENMs; and assessment of the effects of ENMs on endocrine and
developmental systems of organisms.
 “Adaptive research and knowledge infrastructure for accelerating research progress and
providing rapid feedback to advance research . . . . Activities would include making characterized
nanomaterials widely available, refining analytic methods continuously to define the structures of the
materials throughout their lifespan, defining methods and protocols to assess effects, and increasing the
availability and quality of the data and models. Informatics would be fostered by the joining of existing
databases and [the] encouraged and sustained curation and annotation of data.”