© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.pss-rapid.com pss Phys. Status Solidi RRL, 1–6 (2011) / DOI 10.1002/pssr.201105083 Early View publication on wileyonlinelibrary.com (issue and page numbers not yet assigned; citable using Digital Object Identifier – DOI) A life cycle framework for the investigation of environmentally benign nanoparticles and products Thomas L. Theis *, 1 , Bhavik R. Bakshi 2 , Delcie Durham 3 , Vasilis M. Fthenakis 4 , Timothy G. Gutowski 5 , Jacqueline A. Isaacs 6 , Thomas Seager 7 , and Mark R. Wiesner 8 1 Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2121 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60612, USA 2 Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, 140 W. 19th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620, USA 4 Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th St, New York, NY 10027, USA 5 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 6 Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA 7 School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 975306, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA 8 Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, P.O. Box 90287, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA Received 26 January 2011, revised 11 April 2011, accepted 13 April 2011 Published online 18 April 2011 Keywords nanoparticles, nanoproducts, life cycle analysis, environmental quality * Corresponding author: e-mail theist@uic.edu, Phone: +1 312 996 1081, Fax: +1 312 355 0760 © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 1 Introduction There is growing evidence that many nanoparticles produced using current methods may have the potential for significant future environmental impacts, if the use of such materials in products continues to expand at its current rate of growth [1–6]. Such impacts arise from a variety of properties: material composition (i.e. many contain materials of limited supply and/or significant toxic- ity), shape (many nanoparticles possess shapes or assume shapes during fate, transport, and agglomeration with high aspect ratios), photoactivity (resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species and/or hydroxy radicals), redox activity (such as various nano-iron crystals), and size (de- pending on their charge state, particles under 5 nm are ca- pable of crossing cell walls, and can represent an inhala- tion hazard). This presents a conundrum: it is often just such properties that make nanoparticles desirable for re- search investigation and commercial development [7]. Moreover, current nanomaterial fabrication methods suggest a substantial potential for environmental and health effects that stem not from the nanomaterials themselves, but from associated energy inputs, feedstocks, and wastes. Such “collateral damages” associated with nanomaterial While significant advances in our understanding of the behav- ior of engineered nanoparticles in the environment continue, there remains a need to engage the nanoparticle research community directly in the development and evaluation of en- vironmentally benign nanoparticles to ensure that nanomate- rial-based industries emerge as tools for sustainability rather than environmental liabilities. Current research efforts aimed at understanding the environmental implications of nanotech- nology emphasize existing groups of nanoparticles and prod- ucts already in commercial distribution. While this is clearly necessary, this approach fails to identify and address the many tradeoffs associated with product performance and en- vironmental quality. We believe this to be a critical gap in the ongoing exploration of nanostructured materials and their properties and applications. We posit that a number of issues are not being holistically addressed, including resource avail- ability and allocation, manufacturing energy requirements and embodied energy, material efficiency, environmental properties of nanomaterials and nanoproducts, and waste gen- eration. An interdisciplinary approach to research, based on the life cycle paradigm and devoted to the identification, in- vestigation, synthesis, testing, and analysis of groups of new, more environmentally conscious nanoparticles is needed. Expert Opinion