School of Life Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK.
Sci Total Environ. 2010 Mar 1;408(7):1745-54. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.10.035. Epub 2009 Nov 10.
NanoImpactNet is a European Commission Framework Programme 7 (FP7) funded project that provides a forum for the discussion of current opinions on nanomaterials in relation to human and environmental issues. In September 2008, in Zurich, a NanoImpactNet environmental workshop focused on three key questions: 1. What properties should be characterised for nanomaterials used in environmental and ecotoxicology studies? 2. What reference materials should be developed for use in environmental and ecotoxicological studies? 3. Is it possible to group different nanomaterials into categories for consideration in environmental studies? Such questions have been, at least partially, addressed by other projects/workshops especially in relation to human health effects. Such projects provide a useful basis on which this workshop was based, but in this particular case these questions were reformulated in order to focus specifically on environmental studies. The workshop participants, through a series of discussion and reflection sessions, generated the conclusions listed below. The physicochemical characterisation information identified as important for environmental studies included measures of aggregation/agglomeration/dispersability, size, dissolution (solubility), surface area, surface charge, surface chemistry/composition, with the assumption that chemical composition would already be known. There is a need to have test materials for ecotoxicology, and several substances are potentially useful, including TiO(2) nanoparticles, polystyrene beads labelled with fluorescent dyes, and silver nanoparticles. Some of these test materials could then be developed into certified reference materials over time. No clear consensus was reached regarding the classification of nanomaterials into categories to aid environmental studies, except that a chemistry-based classification system was a reasonable starting point, with some modifications. It was suggested, that additional work may be required to derive criteria that can be used to generate such categories, that would also include aspects of the material structure and physical behaviour.
NanoImpactNet 是欧盟第七框架计划（FP7）资助的一个项目，为讨论与人类和环境问题有关的纳米材料的当前观点提供了一个论坛。2008 年 9 月，在苏黎世，NanoImpactNet 环境研讨会集中讨论了三个关键问题：1. 用于环境和生态毒理学研究的纳米材料应具有哪些特性？2. 应开发哪些参考材料用于环境和生态毒理学研究？3. 是否可以将不同的纳米材料分为几类，以便在环境研究中考虑？这些问题至少在一定程度上已被其他项目/研讨会（特别是与人类健康影响有关的项目）解决。这些项目为本次研讨会提供了一个有用的基础，但在这种特殊情况下，这些问题被重新表述，以便专门关注环境研究。研讨会参与者通过一系列讨论和反思会议，生成了以下结论。被确定为环境研究重要的物理化学特性包括团聚/聚集/分散性、大小、溶解（溶解度）、表面积、表面电荷、表面化学/组成，假设化学组成已经已知。需要有用于生态毒理学的测试材料，几种物质具有潜在的用途，包括 TiO(2)纳米颗粒、用荧光染料标记的聚苯乙烯珠和银纳米颗粒。随着时间的推移，其中一些测试材料可以开发成经过认证的参考材料。除了基于化学的分类系统是一个合理的起点，需要进行一些修改外，对于将纳米材料分为几类以帮助环境研究，没有达成明确的共识。有人建议，可能需要开展更多工作，以制定可用于生成此类分类的标准，这些标准还将包括材料结构和物理行为的各个方面。
