Additionally, the latter approach allows a faster degradation and stabilization of contaminants by ENMs reducing the time frame and even the costs of the process. The use of ENMs for environmental remediation, known as nanoremediation, is more effective compared to conventional remediation approaches since nanometric materials show high reactivity, high surface-area-to-volume ratio, and a target-specific ability to capture toxic compounds. Protocols for ENMs/NPs synthesis are improving, promoting their environmental application that refers to “the reduction or removal of contaminants from polluted media restoring their original status”. Based on the size of raw material, these methods include two general approaches: (i) Top-down approach starts from bulk material to create correspondingly smaller structures using finer tools and (ii) Bottom-up approach assembles materials from the nanoscopic scale, such as molecules and atoms, to form larger structures. NPs can be synthesized starting from a wide variety of raw materials by applying biological, physical, or chemical methods. Combining physical and chemical laws, nanotechnology is able to manipulate matter generating particles on a scale of less than 100 nm, known as engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) or nanoparticles (NPs). In this scenario, nanotechnology is the science of the 21st Century that can offer the most promising devices to counteract with chemical pollution, including the marine environmental remediation. Consequently, as a final sink of anthropogenic pollutants, marine ecosystems are under threat and need to be restored to healthy conditions.
On daily basis, different pollutants are released into soil, atmosphere, lakes, groundwater and rivers, which in turn reach seas and oceans. Furthermore, we critically describe the currently available ENMs for marine environment remediation and discuss their pros and cons in safe environmental applications together with the need to balance benefits and risks promoting an environmentally safe nanoremediation (ecosafe) for the future.Įnvironmental pollution results from the rising of industrial activities and urbanization, which constantly discharge man-made wastes into the environment altering its equilibrium, integrity, and health. In the present review, we illustrate the development of the eco-design framework and review the application of ecotoxicology as a valuable strategy to develop ecosafe ENMs for environmental remediation. A recently developed eco-design framework aimed to fill this knowledge gap by using ecotoxicological tools that allow the assessment of potential hazards posed by ENMs to natural ecosystems and wildlife. However, LCA studies focused on the environmental impact of the production phase lacking information on their environmental impact deriving from in situ employment. Until now, Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools have been employed to investigate ENMs potential environmental impact, from raw material production, design and to their final disposal. It is essential to develop systems that can predict ENM interactions with biological systems, their overall environmental and human health impact. However, their fate and safety upon environmental application, which can be associated with their release into the environment, are largely unknown. Due to their large surface area and high reactivity, ENMs offer the potential for the efficient removal of pollutants from environmental matrices with better performances compared to conventional techniques. In recent years, the application of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in environmental remediation gained increasing attention.
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