Nano Consumer Goods and Chemicals
- [Nanomaterials in Consumer Products - J. Gorham and D. Gorko]
The above graphical representation of stages of a nanomaterial's life incorporated into a consumer product from incorporation as a raw material to use and subsequent disposal. Nanomaterial release and human exposure to nanomaterials or nano-enabled products is possible at all stages. Further physical and chemical transformations from the original product is possible when the product is in use and at the end of the material's life.
Nanomaterials (e.g. carbon nanotubes; silver, gold, copper and silica nanoparticles) are increasingly employed into new and existing consumer products for their novel or improved properties that they can impart. Nano-enabled products, like all products, have stages in their lifecycle of use where they can encounter man-made or environmental factors which may lead them to transform physically and/or chemically from their original form. Additionally, release of the nanomaterials from their products, intentional or otherwise, may lead to their eventual exposure to the public and/or the environment.
[More to come ...]
