Understanding the harmful effects of nanoparticles on the physiology and growth of non-target species (i.e., soil microorganisms, plants, daphnids, worms, insects, algae and fish species as well as mammals) is necessary due to their rapid development in many scientific fields. This includes q-dots, fullerenes, and silver nanoparticles and, to a lesser extent, carbon nanotubes and ZnO, Cu, SiO2, and TiO2 nanoparticles. In fullerene toxicity fish exposed to low levels of C60 (0.5 mg L−1) may experience oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation in the brain) and enzyme alterations (glutathione decrease in the gills). Metal nanoparticles also possess antibacterial qualities. The level of toxicity of metal nanoparticles is determined by the charge at the cell membrane surface. Gram-positive cells have a thicker peptidoglycan coating than Gram-negative cells, which makes them less vulnerable to nano-toxic effects. Fish, crustaceans, some plants, fungi, algae and bacteria such as soil-forming chemolithotrophic bacteria and nitrogen-fixing heterotrophic are all severely poisoned by silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles’ detrimental effects on the ecosystem and human beings have become unacceptable. After 2 h of exposure to nanoparticle suspensions in deionized water, it was shown that Zn and ZnO nanoparticles were phytotoxic, inhibiting both seed germination and root growth. Nonetheless, there are other regulatory frameworks that demand risk assessment, approval, labeling, post-market monitoring, and surveillance in addition to pre-market warnings. Analytical methods that can identify and measure impurities will be crucial to pursuing greener strategies since purity affects a variety of nanoparticle characteristics. In fact, nanoparticles are so tiny that optical microscopes are unable to detect them.