Nanotechnology and the Environment

Advanced nanotechnology, which goes beyond our understanding of natural systems and cycles, offers enormous promise for furthering environmental protection technologies. As different aspects of nanotechnology are developed, the broader environmental impacts must be discussed, including determining the potential benefits of reducing or preventing pollutants from industrial sources, as well as monitoring or controlling unintended negative effects through proper and comprehensive risk assessment and life cycle analysis. Although the use of nanotechnology offers many major benefits for industrial growth and environmental sustainability and protection, the energy needs of creating nanoparticles, the considerable amounts of potentially hazardous waste created from their manufacture, and the ecotoxic behavior of many nanoparticles cause societal questions that nanotechnology and new technical advances provide cleaner answers to existing ecological issues (energy).