Alison Crossley,

BegbrokeNano – Oxford Materials Characterisation Services

Department of Materials, Oxford University

6 pm for 6.30 pm start 

Abstract:

Nanotechnologyis a major growth industry which faces the risk of not realising its fulleconomic and societal benefits due to public concerns over the safety ofnanoparticles.  Concerns are largelybased around uncertainties about what the human and environmental costs oftheir use may be.  I will discuss the various sources ofnanoparticles: natural materials, engineered materials and nanoparticles thatresult from other processes such as combustion. I will describe NanoFate, a multipartner EU FP VII funded project.  This project involves developing methods to differentiate engineered NPsfrom the natural background to aid understanding of ENPs in complex environmentalsystems, bioavailability and their fate in ecosystems.