title: An ecological perspective on nanomaterial impacts in the environment.
abstract: Growing concerns over the potential for unintended, adverse consequences of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in the environment have generated new research initiatives focused on understanding the ecological effects of ENPs. Almost nothing is currently known about the fate and transport of ENPs in environmental waters, soils, and sediments or about the biological impacts of ENPs in natural environments, and the bulk of modern nanotoxicogical research is focused on highly controlled laboratory studies with single species in simple media. In this paper, we provide an ecological perspective on the current state of knowledge regarding the likely environmental impacts of nanomaterials and propose a strategy for making rapid progress in new research in ecological nanoscience.
authors.affiliation: Dep. of Biology, Box 90338, Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708, USA. ebernhar@duke.edu
authors.forename: Emily S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Colman
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Hochella
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cardinale
authors.forename: Roger M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Nisbet
authors.forename: Curtis J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D049329:Nanostructures; D012106:Research