Lasat Mitch M, Chung Kian Fan, Lead Jamie, McGrath Steve, Owen Richard J, Rocks Sophie, Unrine Jason, Zhang Junfeng
Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, USA.
National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK.
J Environ Prot (Irvine, Calif). 2018 Apr 2;9(4):385-404. doi: 10.4236/jep.2018.94025.
Nanotechnology has significant economic, health, and environmental benefits, including renewable energy and innovative environmental solutions. Manufactured nanoparticles have been incorporated into new materials and products because of their novel or enhanced properties. These very same properties also have prompted concerns about the potential environmental and human health hazard and risk posed by the manufactured nanomaterials. Appropriate risk management responses require the development of models capable of predicting the environmental and human health effects of the nanomaterials. Development of predictive models has been hampered by a lack of information concerning the environmental fate, behavior and effects of manufactured nanoparticles. The United Kingdom (UK) Environmental Nanoscience Initiative and the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency have developed an international research program to enhance the knowledgebase and develop risk-predicting models for manufactured nanoparticles. Here we report selected highlights of the program as it sought to maximize the complementary strengths of the transatlantic scientific communities by funding three integrated US-UK consortia to investigate the transformation of these nanoparticles in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environment. Research results demonstrate there is a functional relationship between the physicochemical properties of environmentally transformed nanomaterials and their effects and that this relationship is amenable to modeling. In addition, the joint transatlantic program has allowed the leveraging of additional funding, promoting transboundary scientific collaboration.
纳米技术具有显著的经济、健康和环境效益，包括可再生能源和创新性的环境解决方案。人造纳米颗粒因其新颖或增强的特性已被纳入新材料和产品中。正是这些相同的特性引发了人们对人造纳米材料可能造成的环境和人类健康危害及风险的担忧。适当的风险管理应对措施需要开发能够预测纳米材料对环境和人类健康影响的模型。由于缺乏关于人造纳米颗粒的环境归宿、行为和影响的信息，预测模型的开发受到了阻碍。英国环境纳米科学倡议组织和美国环境保护局制定了一项国际研究计划，以加强知识库并开发人造纳米颗粒的风险预测模型。在此，我们报告该计划的部分要点，该计划旨在通过资助三个美英联合财团来研究这些纳米颗粒在陆地、水生和大气环境中的转化，从而最大限度地发挥跨大西洋科学界的互补优势。研究结果表明，环境转化后的纳米材料的物理化学性质与其影响之间存在函数关系，并且这种关系适合建模。此外，跨大西洋联合计划还使得能够利用额外资金，促进跨界科学合作。
