“Nanotechnology and the Environment

anotechnology presents new opportunities to create better materials and products. Applications of nano-materials in environmental protection have created conditions to improve environment and control pollution, which will bring breakthrough progress to environmental science and engineering. Using nano-materials to solve environmental issues will become an inexorable trend in the future. Applications of nano-materials in green chemistry, photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants, remediation of polluted soils or water, pollutant sensing and detection, and so on, have been introduced. Our economy will be increasingly affected by nanotechnology as more products containing nanomaterials move from research and development into production and commerce. Nanotechnology also has the potential to improve the environment, both through direct applications of nanomaterials to detect, prevent, and remove pollutants, as well as indirectly by using nanotechnology to design cleaner industrial processes and create environmental friendly products. However, there are unanswered questions about the impacts of nanomaterials and nanoproducts on human health and the environment. There is a need for research to better understand and apply information regarding nanomaterials such as: chemical identification and characterization, environmental fate, environmental detection and analysis, potential releases and human exposures, human health effects assessment, ecological effects assessment, and environmental technology applications. The presentation will discuss the potential environmental implications and applications of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies.