Environmental fate of engineered nanoparticles in ecosystems remains unknown

Determine the environmental fate of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) when they are released into and exposed to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including their persistence, distribution, and ultimate disposition within these environments.

Background

The paper notes the widespread and increasing use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in consumer products and industrial applications, which raises the likelihood of their release into natural environments through use and disposal. Plants are highlighted as key components of ecosystems that readily uptake and accumulate nanoparticles.

Despite extensive applications of ENPs, the authors explicitly state that the fate of these materials once they enter terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems remains unknown. This unresolved question concerns core environmental processes (transport, transformation, accumulation) and is critical for assessing long-term ecological and food-chain impacts beyond the scope of the present study, which focuses on toxicity mitigation via polymer capping.

References

Due to immense use of nanomaterials in consumer products and poor disposal of such materials, the engineered nanoparticles (ENP's) will eventually exposed into terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with their fate being still unknown to us5.

— Capping of Nanoparticles: An Alternative Approach for Reducing Nanoparticle Toxicity in Plants  (2111.11355 - Bhatt et al., 2021) in Introduction