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NCER's Dr. Karn is a Guest Editor for this Month's ES&T Issue Dedicated to Nanotechnology
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Wei-xian Zhang of Lehigh University, and Dr. Barbara Karn of USEPA’s National Center for Environmental Research, were guest editors for the March issue of Environmental Science & Technology which is dedicated to nanotechnology research, specifically the environmentally responsible development of nanotechnology. Zhang and Karn selected the manuscripts for consideration and managed the review process for the papers presented in this issue of ES&T.
In their Guest Comment, Zhang and Karn state that in the next 10 to 15 years nanotechnology industrial sectors are expected to exceed $1 trillion in global industrial output and that this industry will employ more than 2 million workers. The guest editors point out that an inevitable consequence of this rapid growth is the exposure of humans and other environmental receptors to nanoscale materials., and that little is currently known about the fate, transport, and transformation of nanosized materials once they enter the environment.
The ES&T nanotechnology special issue includes a lead article by Mihail Roco (National Science Foundation), entitled: Environmentally Responsible Development of Nanotechnology, which summarizes the activities and R&D investments of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, and the activities of several federal agencies to study the potential risks of exposure to nanomaterials.
This ES&T issue features 25 nanotechnology research projects, five of which are currently funded projects under EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. The five NCER projects relayed in this ES&T issue include:
- Development of Improved Materials for Environmental Applications: Nanocrystalline NaY Zeolites
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/2170/report/0
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/143/report/0
- Detection of Heavy Metal Ions in Drinking Water Using a High Resolution Differential Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/2387/report/0
- Adsorption Enhancement Mechanisms of Silica-Titania Nanocomposites for Elemental Mercury Vapor Removal
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/2374/report/0
- TCE Dechlorination Rates, Pathways, and Efficiency of Nanoscale Iron Particles with Different Properties
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/6346/report/0
- Life Cycle Benefits of Using Nanotechnology to Stabilize Platinum-Group Metal Particles in Automotive Catalysts
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/6245/report/0
For more information on the research covered by this ES&T issue see:
http://pubs.acs.org/journals/esthag/index_magazine.html
http://pubs.acs.org/journals/esthag/index.html
For more information on EPA/NCER’s nanotechnology research program see:
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/nano/