Impact of nanomaterial in environmental remediation and toxicity

Abstract: The air, water and soil environments are continuously contaminated by various pollutants posing tremendous hazardous impacts in environmental and human health worldwide during last few decades. Recently, nanomaterial is the significant development of nanoscaled size material with highly reactive large surface area in the material science. It offers wide range of applications in protecting environmental and human health from hazardous risks of pollutants. Considering the tremendous risks of environmental pollution and potential impacts of nanomaterials in respect to environmental pollution, the present review has attempted to draw an account on impact of nanomaterials in environmental remediation and toxicity. This review has critically dealt the significant nanoremedial characteristics of nanomaterials - iron, ferritin, copper peroxide, polymeric nanoparticles, nanotubes and nanofibres, semiconductor photocatalytic nanoparticle, nanofiltration membrane, antimicrobial nanomaterials, nanomaterial based sensor, etc. for cleaning up the polluted air, water and soil environments. In addition to remediation, environmental toxicity impacts of nanomaterials have also been briefly ellustrated herein as literatures obtained. Summarily, though nanomaterials may have adverse impacts, due to having potential nanoremediation capacity it could be considered and applied as a new and advanced remediation approach that can enhance, improve or replace the existing conventional technologies to protect the air, water and soil resources in order to achieve the environmental sustainability