Nanotechnology and in situ remediation: a review of the benefits and potential risks.

In this review, we focus on environmental cleanup and provide a background and overview of current practice; research findings; societal issues; potential environment, health, and safety implications; and future directions for nanoremediation. We also discuss nanoscale zero-valent iron in detail. We searched the Web of Science for research studies and accessed recent publicly available reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies and organizations that addressed the applications and implications associated with nanoremediation techniques. We also conducted personal interviews with practitioners about specific site remediations. We aggregated information from 45 sites, a representative portion of the total projects under way, to show nanomaterials used, types of pollutants addressed, and organizations responsible for each site. Nanoremediation has the potential not only to reduce the overall costs of cleaning up large-scale contaminated sites but also to reduce cleanup time, eliminate the need for treatment and disposal of contaminated soil, and reduce some contaminant concentrations to near zero--all in situ.

Nanotechnology and in situ remediation: a review of the benefits and potential risks.

OBJECTIVE: Although industrial sectors involving semiconductors; memory and storage technologies; display, optical, and photonic technologies; energy; biotechnology; and health care produce the most products that contain nanomaterials, nanotechnology is also used as an environmental technology to protect the environment through pollution prevention, treatment, and cleanup. In this review, we focus on environmental cleanup and provide a background and overview of current practice; research findings; societal issues; potential environment, health, and safety implications; and future directions for nanoremediation. We do not present an exhaustive review of chemistry/engineering methods of the technology but rather an introduction and summary of the applications of nanotechnology in remediation. We also discuss nanoscale zerovalent iron in detail. DATA SOURCES: We searched the Web of Science for research studies and accessed recent publicly available reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies and organizations that addressed the applications and implications associated with nanoremediation techniques. We also conducted personal interviews with practitioners about specific site remediations. DATA SYNTHESIS: We aggregated information from 45 sites, a representative portion of the total projects under way, to show nanomaterials used, types of pollutants addressed, and organizations responsible for each site. CONCLUSIONS: Nanoremediation has the potential not only to reduce the overall costs of cleaning up large-scale contaminated sites but also to reduce cleanup time, eliminate the need for treatment and disposal of contaminated soil, and reduce some contaminant concentrations to near zero-all in situ. Proper evaluation of nanoremediation, particularly full-scale ecosystem-wide studies, needs to be conducted to prevent any potential adverse environmental impacts.

Nanotechnology and in situ remediation: a review of the benefits and potential risks / A nanotecnologia e a remediação in situ: uma revisão dos benefícios e riscos em potencial

In this review, we focus on environmental cleanup and provide a background and overview of current practice; research findings; societal issues; potential environment, health, and safety implications; and future directions for nanoremediation. We also discuss nanoscale zero-valent iron in detail. We searched the Web of Science for research studies and accessed recent publicly available reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies and organizations that addressed the applications and implications associated with nanoremediation techniques. We also conducted personal interviews with practitioners about specific site remediations. We aggregated information from 45 sites, a representative portion of the total projects under way, to show nanomaterials used, types of pollutants addressed, and organizations responsible for each site. Nanoremediation has the potential not only to reduce the overall costs of cleaning up large-scale contaminated sites but also to reduce cleanup time, eliminate the need for treatment and disposal of contaminated soil, and reduce some contaminant concentrations to near zero - all in situ.

Nesta revisão, nos concentramos na limpeza ambiental e fornecemos um histórico e uma visão geral da prática atual, conclusões de pesquisas, questões em potencial sociais, ambientais, de saúde e segurança, bem como o direcionamento futuro para a nanorremediação. Também discutimos em detalhes a tecnologia de remediação ferro zero valente em nanoescala. Consultamos estudos de pesquisa na Web of Science e acessamos os relatórios disponibilizados ao público recentemente pela Agência de Proteção Ambiental dos EUA e por outras agências e organizações que abordam aplicações e implicações associadas às técnicas de nanorremediação. Também realizamos entrevistas pessoais com praticantes sobre remediações de locais específicos. Foram agregadas informações de 45 locais, parte representativa do total dos projetos em andamento, mostrando os nanomateriais utilizados, tipos de poluentes abordados e organizações responsáveis em cada local. A nanorremediação não apenas tem o potencial de reduzir os custos gerais da limpeza de locais contaminados em grande escala como também reduz o tempo de limpeza, elimina a necessidade de tratamento e descarte de solo contaminado e reduz algumas concentrações de contaminantes a níveis próximos a zero, tudo isso in situ.