Nanomaterials in Environment: The Application, Toxicity and Degradation

Dear Colleagues,

Nanotechnologies focused on producing new or enhanced products, such as lighter and stronger materials, devices for more efficient water purification or desalination, drug delivery at specific sites in the body, and smaller and cheaper sensors for a wide range of applications—from monitoring the pollution in the environment to the freshness of food or the stresses in a building or a vehicle—are based on the use of small particles in the nm range size. However, these particles proved to have the potential to cause adverse effects to biota as they have size-specific characteristics different from the bulk material. These characteristics are influenced by environmental variables like ionic strength, the presence of organic matter, among many others. In this sense, parameters such as particle size and distribution, chemical composition, impurities, degree of nanomaterial aggregation or agglomeration under the experimental conditions, surface chemistry, surface area, morphology, surface reactivity, and persistence as well as characteristics of the test media are considered essential for the nanotoxicity studies. This Special Issue aims at increasing the knowledge on the size and particle-specific effects of nanoparticles under environmentally relevant conditions. In this sense, studies addressing effects to biota under ecologically relevant scenarios, linking abiotic factors able to modulate characteristics of particles and bioavailability, are welcome. Considering the specificity of nanoparticles, new approaches to assessing effects using different biological matrices with special emphasis on non-invasive methods and/or in vitro approaches are considered relevant.

Dr. Miguel Oliveira
Dr. Isabel M. Lopes
Dr. Cátia Venâncio
Guest Editors

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• nanotoxicology
• nanosize
• environmental effects
• ecological relevance
• green nanoparticles