Sustainability and environmental ethics for the application of engineered nanoparticles

•Impacts of ENPs on the ecology and the humans are evaluated.•Ethical justifications are provided from the view point of IRG-J and EC-J.•The burden and benefits of ENPs on the environment are identified and discussed.•Mitigation strategies in sustaining ENPs for environmental applications are provided.•Future research directions for sustainable use of ENPs are elucidated.