report
6.6.6 Current situation within the EU

At the time there is no EU-project focussing on the use of nanoparticles for soil remediation.

In European countries as well as in the U.S., the release of nanoparticles into the environment is not yet regulated. In principle, anyone can hire a company (listed above) to decontaminate one’s backyard. It seems that in Europe, most remediation projects (e.g. in Germany) are carried out as collaboration between industry and local government. But based on advertisements of the companies mentioned above, target audience of companies located in the U.S. are also private persons.

The USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) has contracted the University of Cincinnati for a research project on the fate and transport of nanoparticles in soil systems and how the presence of these nano-particles influence contaminant transports and soil remediation technologies. EPA will focus this research on comparing nano-particles occurring naturally with engineered ones based on their mobility in soil systems, aggregation and dissolution to increase the understanding on the fate of nano-particles. EPA intends to use materials such as silica as a model for naturally occurring nano-materials, whereas titania and iron oxide for engineered particles having varying reactive properties. The mobility of nano-particles through porous media and their tendency to aggregate or agglomerate to form larger macro-scale particles will be evaluated under different conditions. EPA will study the influence of accumulated nano-materials on contaminants mobility and soil remediation technologies such as encapsulation techniques. https://www.fbo.gov/index?tab=core&s=opportunity&mode=form&id=3d666d4532ddfc69e8479e0c1060084b&cck=1&au=&ck=

Information on different case studies (supervised by governmental bodies) and background information on nZVI is found in the report of the U.S. EPA Workshop on Nanotechnology for Site Remediation (http://es.epa.gov/ncer/publications/workshop/pdf/10_20_05_nanosummary.pdf)

as well as in the presentation of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command at the Federal Remedial Technology Roundtable (http://www.frtr.gov/pdf/meetings/l--mach_09jun04.pdf)