Nanomaterials have moved into the marketplace over the last decade, in products as varied as cosmetics, clothing and paint. But not enough is known about their potential health and environmental risks, which should be studied further, an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday.

And because the nanotechnology market is expanding — it represented $225 billion in product sales in 2009 and is expected to grow rapidly in the next decade — “today’s exposure scenarios may not resemble those of the future,” the report says.

The panel called for a four-part research effort focusing on identifying sources of nanomaterial releases, processes that affect exposure and hazards, nanomaterial interactions at subcellular to ecosystem-wide levels and ways to accelerate research progress.

The last time the academy weighed in on this was in a report in 2008 that included a sweeping critique of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the federal body that coordinates nano-related activities across agencies. In its report on Wednesday, the academy acknowledged the initiative’s progress, but added that “there has not been sufficient linkage between research and research findings and the creation of strategies to prevent and manage risk.”