ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOUR AND LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF ENGINEERED NANOMATERIALS IN WASTE STREAMS

The present research is focused on the environmental behaviour and life cycle assessment of the engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) usage. The basic pint of the conducted research is that the ENMs behaviour is determined by both the chemical and physical properties and of the released nanoparticles, and the conditions of the environmental media into which they have been released. There are many evidences proving how the specific physicochemical profile of ENMs, related to the nanoform itself, directly affects the environmental exposure of these substances, the methodology of measuring this exposure and how the collected data can utilise for the purpose of risk assessments. Since ENMs differ from bulk chemicals in terms of certain characteristics (e.g. dimensions, surface of volume ratio, reactivity), we can not expect to observe identical behavioural patterns in terms of dissolution in water or absorption in soils, hence the currently existing exposure and risk assessment models are not applicable without additional modifications.