Abstract
A major research effort is underway around the world to understand the impacts of nanomaterials on our environment. Some occur naturally or are produced by human activity, while others are manufactured on an industrial scale, and their presence in the environment cannot be disputed. The questions raised here concern their transformations in contact with water, the mechanisms and kinetic aspects of the exposure of biological organisms in water, sediments, or soils, and their possible harmful effects on living beings. What characterises some of these nanomaterials is the fact that they dissolve in water, then reprecipitate in the form of different minerals that are less toxic because they lose their initial properties. The effects on living beings, particularly within a trophic cascade, are still poorly understood, especially since the concentrations are very low. The challenge here is to obtain a sufficient understanding of the exposure and transformation phenomena, together with the effects on organisms within the relevant trophic cascades, to be able to model the risks and hence arrive at a predictive assessment when the nanomaterials are both chemically and structurally complex. Research in this area can only be cross-disciplinary.
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- 1.
These are metal or semiconductor nanocrystals measuring 6–8 nm and which can emit light by fluorescence under certain thermal or lighting conditions. The wavelength of this emission, i.e., its colour, depends on the kind of material used and also the size of the dots (see Sect. 2.3 of Chap. 2).
- 2.
Superparamagnetism is a typical behaviour of ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials when they occur as very small grains or nanoparticles. Their magnetisation reverses spontaneously, in such a way that it seems on average to be zero. An external field can then magnetise them like a paramagnetic material, except that the magnetic susceptibility of the grains is much higher.
- 3.
The zero point charge is the pH at which the surface of an oxide is neutral. Below this point, the surface is positively charged and above, it is negatively charged. It is essential to determine the ZPC in order to control the adsorption of anions or cations on the oxide support. The pH of a solution can be measured in various ways, notably by electrochemistry using a device called a pH metre, or with a pH indicator substance whose colour changes at a given value of the pH.
- 4.
The nanoparticles cross the porous medium formed by solid grains.
- 5.
Biofilms are multicellular communities of micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, algae, or protozoa) with varying degrees of complexity, often symbiotic, sticking together on a surface and distinguished by the secretion of an adhesive protective matrix. They generally form in water or in aqueous media.
- 6.
In chemistry, speciation refers to the quantitative distribution of the various states, e.g., anionic, cationic, neutral, reduced, oxidised, adsorbed, etc., of an element in the medium. In biology, speciation is the evolutionary process whereby new living species arise.
- 7.
Thomas Bayes was a British mathematician and Presbyterian minister, born in London in 1701.
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Bottero, JY. (2016). Environmental Risks of Nanotechnology: A New Challenge?. In: Lourtioz, JM., Lahmani, M., Dupas-Haeberlin, C., Hesto, P. (eds) Nanosciences and Nanotechnology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19360-1_13
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