Modeling Nanomaterial Environmental Fate in Aquatic Systems
Abstract
Mathematical models improve our fundamental understanding of the environmental behavior, fate, and transport of engineered nanomaterials (NMs, chemical substances or materials roughly 1-100 nm in size) and facilitate risk assessment and management activities. Although today's large-scale environmental fate models for NMs are a considerable improvement over early efforts, a gap still remains between the experimental research performed to date on the environmental fate of NMs and its incorporation into models. This article provides an introduction to the current state of the science in modeling the fate and behavior of NMs in aquatic environments. We address the strengths and weaknesses of existing fate models, identify the challenges facing researchers in developing and validating these models, and offer a perspective on how these challenges can be addressed through the combined efforts of modelers and experimentalists.
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Much is still to learn about how nanomaterials behave and what happens during water and wastewater treatment; understanding the effects of nanomaterials on the environment and human health is crucial, as it poses a significant challenge to the widespread use of nanotechnology.
“Furthermore, much is still to learn about how nanomaterials behave and what happens during water and wastewater treatment. Understanding the effects of nanomaterials on the environment and human health is crucial, as it poses a significant challenge to the widespread use of nanotechnology.111,112”
From Emerging nanotechnology approaches for sustainable water treatment and heavy metals removal: a comprehensive review (2025) · cites this paper as [111]
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“111,112 To prevent or reduce the possible negative impact caused by nanotechnology, creating a substance or instrument that may decrease the escape or movement of nanoparticles while still protecting their strong reactive properties can be preferable.”
- Authors
- Dale, A. L., Casman, E. A., Lowry, G. V., Lead, J. R., Viparelli, E., & Baalousha, M.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Corresponding author
- Baalousha, Mohammed
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2015-02-04
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2587-2593
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2066285818
- Cited by
- 286
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 14
- Type
- other
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission (263215)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NE/H013148/1)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EF-0830093, EF-1266252, R834574)
- Division of Emerging Frontiers (EF-0830093, EF-1266252)
- Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, Duke University
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Nanoparticles: synthesis and applications
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Environmental remediation with nanomaterials
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- engineered nanomaterials, environmental fate modeling, aquatic environment, nanomaterial transport, model validation, model-data integration, nanomaterial risk assessment
- MeSH terms
- Ecology, Marine Biology, Models, Theoretical, Risk Assessment, Nanostructures
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