1 research outputs found
Particles in the oceans: Implication for a safe marine environment
Strategies and technologies for the ecosafety assessment and design of engineered particles entering the
marine environment are urgently needed. As the application of nanoparticles in science and technology
grows, the need to understand their impact on the marine environment becomes increasingly important.
This Editorial introduces a Special Issue on the topic of a sustainable and safety use of nanoparticles for
protecting, recovering and supporting the oceans’ environment and consequently human health. The
issue focus on the impact of micro/nano-plastics and metallic nanoparticles on marine organisms, as well
as some methodological aspects associated to the eco/toxicity and analytical approaches for in deep
physico-chemical characterization of nanoparticles in marine waters and sediment media. Important and
urgent topics are addressed in the field of nano-ecosafety in order to assess more precisely both exposure
routes and environmental hazards of nanoparticles in the ocean. Ecotoxicological and toxicological data,
obtained using a wide variety of organisms representative of different trophic levels and biological organization,
from whole animals to macromolecules, will be useful for a better definition of cleaner and
safer nanoparticles. Efforts in developing a broad understanding of target species, expected results,
benchmarks and timelines, will be of primary importance