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Assessing the properties of and characterizing nanomaterials is a task that has quickly blossomed into arguably the most multidisciplinary field to date. As physical chemistry joins forces with the biological sciences to engineer substances with novel properties, researchers are faced with a multitude of possibilities. It is often remarked that this spectrum of possibilities means a spectrum of concerns: to qualify and quantify how such materials would be altered upon environmental release has fate chemistry increasingly coming into the synthesis laboratory. The recent bloom of nano funding has at a minimum made the long-desired goal of proactive regulation via predictive ecotoxicology a leading research mandate. In this Viewpoint, the Duke-based team of Wiesner et al. describe their approach in these (early) heady days of empirical nanomaterial risk assessment.