Professor M.R. Wiesner at Rice University recently suggested the industry and research community use caution in developing water filtration applications using nanotechnology. While Weisner suggested it "would be naïve to imagine that technology will evolve without risks to our health and environment,” he found that "preliminary results suggest that the fabrication of nanomaterials entails risks that are less than or comparable to those associated with many current industrial activities such as silicon waiver production.” Wiesner also concluded that nanoparticle mobility in groundwater depends on type of nanomaterial involved — fullerene-based nanoparticles move through a porous medium more rapidly and to a greater extent than colloidal-based nanoparticles.
M.R. Wiesner, "Responsible development of nanotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment," Water Science & Technology, Vol. 53 No. 3 pp 45–51 (2006 ).
