Research strategies for safety evaluation of nanomaterials, Part III: nanoscale technologies for assessing risk and improving public health.
Risk assessment in the environmental health sciences focuses on understanding the nature of environmental exposures and the potential harm posed by those exposures which in turn is determined by the perturbation of biological pathways and the individual's susceptibility to damage. While there are extensive research efforts ongoing in these areas, progress in each is currently slowed by technological limitations including comprehensive assessment of multiple exposures in real time and dynamic assessment of biological response with high temporal and quantitative resolution. This Forum article discusses recent technological innovations capitalizing on the emergent properties of nanoscale materials and their potential adaptation to improving individual exposure assessment, determination of biological response, and environmental remediation. The ultimate goal is to raise the environmental health science community's awareness of these possibilities and encourage the development of improved strategies for assessing risk and improving public health.
Balshaw
David M
DM
Center for Risk and Integrated Sciences, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. Balshaw@niehs.nih.gov
Philbert
Martin
M
Suk
William A
WA
D035843:Biomedical Research; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*
D004785:Environmental Pollutants