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The environmental impact of nanotechnology is the possible effects that the use of nanotechnological materials and devices will have on the environment. [20] As nanotechnology is an emerging field, there is debate regarding to what extent industrial and commercial use of nanomaterials will affect organisms and ecosystems.
The term is sometimes expanded to also include nanotechnology's health and environmental impact, but this article will only consider the social and political impact of nanotechnology. As nanotechnology is an emerging field and most of its applications are still speculative, there is much debate about what positive and negative effects that ...
The United States National Nanotechnology Initiative involves 20 departments and independent agencies that focus on nanotechnology innovation and regulation in the United States. Projects and activities of NNI span from R&D to policy on environment and safety regulations of NMs. [33]
Worldwide investment in nanotechnology increased from $432 million in 1997 to about $4.1 billion in 2005. [3]: 1–3 Because nanotechnology is a recent development, the health and safety effects of exposures to nanomaterials, and what levels of exposure may be acceptable, is not yet fully understood.
Nanotoxicological studies are intended to determine whether and to what extent these properties may pose a threat to the environment and to human beings. [5] Nanoparticles have much larger surface area to unit mass ratios which in some cases may lead to greater pro-inflammatory effects in, for example, lung tissue.
One concern is the effect that industrial-scale manufacturing and use of nanomaterials will have on human health and the environment, as suggested by nanotoxicology research. For these reasons, some groups advocate that nanotechnology be regulated.
Ethics of nanotechnology is the study of the ethical issues emerging from advances in nanotechnology and its impacts.. According to Andrew Chen, ethical concerns about nanotechnologies should include the possibility of their military applications, the dangers posed by self-replicant nanomachines, and their use for surveillance monitoring and tracking. [1]
Nanotechnology's environmental impact can be split into two aspects: the potential for nanotechnological innovations to help improve the environment, and the possibly novel type of pollution that nanotechnological materials might cause if released into the environment. As nanotechnology is an emerging field, there is great debate regarding to ...