Assessing the Risks of Manufactured Nanomaterials

Wiesner, Mark R.; Lowry, Gregory V.; Alvarez, Pedro J. J.; Dionysiou, Dianysios; Biswas, Pratim

doi:10.1021/es062726m

Cited by 1,048 publications

(657 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Besides, the bioavailability of silver nanoparticles in natural water, which is related to particles aggregation, deposition, dispersion and dissolution, has to be considered [30]. Moreover the concentration of silver and the determination of its prevalent forms in soils is required for assessing the toxicological effect on the terrestrial organisms [2].…”

Section: -Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Behavior of Silver Nanotextiles during Washing

Geranio

Heuberger

Nowack

2009

Environ. Sci. Technol.

576

403

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The widespread use of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in commercial products, especially textiles, will likely result in an unknown spread of Ag into the environment. The quantification and characterization of the Ag released from nano-Ag-products is an important parameter needed to predict the effect of Ag-NPs on the environment. The aim of this study was to determine the amount and the form of Ag released during washing from nine fabrics with different ways of silver incorporation into or onto the fibers. The effect of pH, surfactants, and oxidizing agents was evaluated. The results show that little dissolution of Ag-NPs occurs under conditions relevant to washing (pH 10) with dissolved concentrations 10 times lower than at pH 7. However, bleaching agents such as hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid (formed by the perborate/TAED system) can greatly accelerate the dissolution of Ag. The amount and form of Ag released from the fabrics as ionic and particulate Ag depended on the type of Ag-incorporation into the textile. The percentage of the total silver emitted during one washing of the textiles varied considerably among products (from less than 1 to 45%). In the washing machine the majority of the Ag (at least 50% but mostly >75%) was released in the size fraction >450 nm, indicating the dominant role of mechanical stress. A conventional silver textile did not show any significant difference in the size distribution of the released silver compared to many of the textiles containing nano-Ag. These results have important implications for the risk assessment of Ag-textiles and also for environmental fate studies of nano-Ag, because they show that under conditions relevant to washing, primarily coarse Ag-containing particles are released.

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Section: -Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Behavior of Silver Nanotextiles during Washing

Geranio

Heuberger

Nowack

2009

Environ. Sci. Technol.

576

403

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“…Fate and transport processes that can act on nanomaterials in products, and after their release, include photochemical transformation, oxidation and reduction, dissolution, precipitation, adsorption, desorption, combustion, biotransformation, and abrasion, among other biogeochemically driven processes [3,6,7]. In addition, ENM are also affected by agglomeration or aggregation and settling [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential scenarios for nanomaterial release and subsequent alteration in the environment

Nowack¹,

Ranville²,

Diamond³

et al. 2011

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

531

353

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Abstract-The risks associated with exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENM) will be determined in part by the processes that control their environmental fate and transformation. These processes act not only on ENM that might be released directly into the environment, but more importantly also on ENM in consumer products and those that have been released from the product. The environmental fate and transformation are likely to differ significantly for each of these cases. The ENM released from actual direct use or from nanomaterial-containing products are much more relevant for ecotoxicological studies and risk assessment than pristine ENM. Released ENM may have a greater or lesser environmental impact than the starting materials, depending on the transformation reactions and the material. Almost nothing is known about the environmental behavior and the effects of released and transformed ENM, although these are the materials that are actually present in the environment. Further research is needed to determine whether the release and transformation processes result in a similar or more diverse set of ENM and ultimately how this affects environmental behavior. This article addresses these questions, using four hypothetical case studies that cover a wide range of ENM, their direct use or product applications, and their likely fate in the environment. Furthermore, a more definitive classification scheme for ENM should be adopted that reflects their surface condition, which is a result of both industrial and environmental processes acting on the ENM. The authors conclude that it is not possible to assess the risks associated with the use of ENM by investigating only the pristine form of the ENM, without considering alterations and transformation processes. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:50-59. # 2011 SETAC

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“…The toxicity of nanomaterials is determined by their size, shape, chemical structure and surface properties. It is imperative to evaluate the potential risks that these novel materials pose to the environment and human health, and the first step is to assess their mobility in the environment (Wiesner et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%