Raising Questions on Nanotech

Research on the environmental impacts of nanotechnology has focused mainly on its novel properties. On the upside, scientists hope nanomaterials — which are created and manipulated at the scale of atoms and molecules — will play an important role in developing better technology for solar power, clean drinking water, energy-efficiency, and other clean-planet needs. On the downside, researchers worry about nano-pollution, since these tiny materials may be toxic in ways that their normal-sized counterparts are not. Now, in a special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology, several articles examine environmental impacts of manufacturing nanomaterials — and find problems in some more conventional realms as well. For example, making carbon-based nanomaterials is up to 100 times as energy-intensive as aluminum, one article found. Another warned that because nanomanufacturing requires high precision and purity, it may be excessively wasteful, offsetting some of the technology’s green advantages.