A life cycle framework for the investigation of environmentally benign nanoparticles and products |
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| Authors: | Thomas L Theis Bhavik R Bakshi Delcie Durham Vasilis M Fthenakis Timothy G Gutowski Jacqueline A Isaacs Thomas Seager Mark R Wiesner |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2121 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60612, USA;2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, 140 W. 19th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA;3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620, USA;4. Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th St, New York, NY 10027, USA;5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;6. Center for High‐rate Nanomanufacturing, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA;7. School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 975306, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA;8. Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, P.O. Box 90287, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA |
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| Abstract: | While significant advances in our understanding of the behavior of engineered nanoparticles in the environment continue, there remains a need to engage the nanoparticle research community directly in the development and evaluation of environmentally benign nanoparticles to ensure that nanomaterial‐based industries emerge as tools for sustainability rather than environmental liabilities. Current research efforts aimed at understanding the environmental implications of nanotechnology emphasize existing groups of nanoparticles and products already in commercial distribution. While this is clearly necessary, this approach fails to identify and address the many tradeoffs associated with product performance and environmental quality. We believe this to be a critical gap in the ongoing exploration of nanostructured materials and their properties and applications. We posit that a number of issues are not being holistically addressed, including resource availability and allocation, manufacturing energy requirements and embodied energy, material efficiency, environmental properties of nanomaterials and nanoproducts, and waste generation. An interdisciplinary approach to research, based on the life cycle paradigm and devoted to the identification, investigation, synthesis, testing, and analysis of groups of new, more environmentally conscious nanoparticles is needed. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |
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| Keywords: | nanoparticles nanoproducts life cycle analysis environmental quality |
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