Preventing health risks from engineered nanoparticles: using nanoinformatics to develop effective exposure assessment strategies for public and environmental health professionals

Nanoinformatics is a scientific approach and practice for determining what information is relevant to nanoscale science and materials, objects and devices derived from nanotechnology. This approach is also used to collect, validate, store, share, analyze, model, and apply that information to manage health and safety impacts of products and services associated with nanotechnology. One way to manage health and safety of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) is to conduct and quantify exposure (contact with agent) by effective exposure assessment strategies. For a long time traditional exposure assessments methods have focused on evaluating macro and micro-structured aerosols, however, such approaches may not work as successful for nanoparticles as for large particles. Engineered nanoparticles are 1000 times less in size than the microns or macro particles with unique physicochemical and optical properties which present more challenges to the design and implementation of exposure assessment strategies than for larger particles. In this article nanoinformatics is applied to develop effective exposure assessment strategies to evaluate and prevent health risks of engineered nanoparticles and to support public and environmental health professionals in this effort.