The rapid growing industry of global economic importance is exploring the novel material synthesized at the nanoscale. Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) have been manufactured with specific shape, size, surface properties and unique functionalities such as catalytic behaviour, increased strength, improved thermal and electrical conductivity. These advancements have opened the door to new applications in biomedicine, nanoenergetic materials and functional nanocomposites including cancer therapy, drug delivery, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, biomolecule detection, and antimicrobial activities. In cancer therapies, nanoparticulate delivery systems allow ENPs greater penetration of therapeutic and diagnostic substances within the body while posing fewer risks than conventional cancer therapies. Evidences suggested that ENPs offer some substantial danger to the environment by its toxicological effects when they are exposed to the environment, which leads to the chronic issues of nanopollution. The aquatic environment is at the greatest risk from ENPs, as it serves as a sink for nearly all environmental contaminants. Despite these challenges, ENPs holds promise to in different field as well as minimize environmental pollution, by employing the innovative environmental remediation methods. There are gaps in understanding the fate of ENPs in the environment hence more stringent and critical research is the need of the hour. It also call for the advancement of tools and techniques that can accurately quantify and analyze the uptake of ENPs into biological systems. This review includes the different types of ENPs their sources and physiochemical characteristics and the ultimate fate of these ENPs in the environment.

中文翻译：

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工程纳米粒子 (ENP)：未开发的潜力和局限性

具有全球经济重要性的快速发展的行业正在探索在纳米级合成的新型材料。工程纳米粒子 (ENP) 已被制造为具有特定的形状、尺寸、表面特性和独特的功能，例如催化行为、增加的强度、改进的导热性和导电性。这些进步为生物医学、纳米能材料和功能性纳米复合材料的新应用打开了大门，包括癌症治疗、药物输送、组织工程、再生医学、生物分子检测和抗菌活性。在癌症治疗中，纳米颗粒输送系统允许 ENPs 在体内更好地渗透治疗和诊断物质，同时比传统的癌症治疗带来更少的风险。有证据表明，当 ENP 暴露在环境中时，其毒理学效应会对环境造成一些实质性危险，从而导致纳米污染的慢性问题。水生环境受到 ENP 的威胁最大，因为它是几乎所有环境污染物的汇集地。尽管存在这些挑战，ENPs 仍有望在不同领域通过采用创新的环境修复方法将环境污染降至最低。在了解 ENP 在环境中的命运方面存在差距，因此需要进行更严格和批判性的研究。它还要求改进能够准确量化和分析 ENP 吸收到生物系统中的工具和技术。