Achievement

A consistent theme emerging from our IGERT research is that the fate of engineered nanomaterials is determined in a large part by the environmental properties (e.g. redox state, amount of organic matter, etc.). In many cases, the impact of the various environmental properties is more important to consider than the specific nanomaterial properties (e.g. surface coating), which has been the focus of a great deal of research over the past decade. This finding will enable the nanotechnology research community to better prioritize research aimed at predicting the effects that nanomaterials may have on the environment.