Environmental, health and safety assessment of nanoparticle application in drilling mud – Review

The rapid increase in the use of engineered nanoparticles in different industrial applications makes risk assessment on human health, ecosystem and the environment necessary. Health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks of a technology are an inseparable part of which it threatens all exposed employees. There has been an increase and public interest in nanotechnology because of its applications in several areas including, processing and engineering industries e.g., oil and gas, electronics, cosmetic, biomedical, agriculture, medicine and public health. The increased use of nanomaterials in various sectors has raised concerns about their impact on health and safety, as well as the environment. As nanomaterials become commonly and widely used in every sector, environmental and personal exposure to nanomaterials is therefore unavoidable and this has led researchers to gain interest in nanotoxicity. Based on this, this paper reviews the application of nanotechnology in drilling engineering, with a focus on drilling fluids and environmental concerns regarding their disposal after use. Meanwhile, combined with the risks of nanotechnology toxicity to both humans, the ecosystem and the environment, this paper expounds the challenges of nanotechnology in oil and gas, the cost of nanoparticle mud fluids, fate and behaviour of nanoparticles, and then puts forward future recommendations for safe disposal of ENPs in drilling fluids and other industrial applications.