Nanoprospecting: An Approach Towards Environmental Monitoring of Engineered Nanomaterials

CBET - 1336542工程纳米材料（NM）是一类新的污染物，关于其在环境中的潜在危害的争论越来越多。本提案旨在促进获得更好的关于危险评估中接触部分的信息。即使对于当今社会使用的高产量（HPV）纳米材料（TiO 2和SiO 2），也缺乏关于其在水生系统中的浓度或发生频率的实地监测数据。对即将广泛使用的纳米材料进行环境监测（例如，Ag 0、CeO 2、CNT、C60等）除非有框架和分析方法来了解在哪里以及如何找到新的纳米材料，否则未来的高附加值纳米材料将仍然无法实现。我们建议开发和应用一个框架来监测环境中的NM。纳米勘探是这一调查框架的第一阶段，涉及监测人类乳头瘤病毒和新出现的纳米物质在城市水系统的关键输入点和沿着的存在。散装食品成分是进入城市水系统的NM的主要潜在来源。为了补充使用现有的分析方法，今天可以检测NM在环境相关的浓度，我们提出了改进后处理的数据信号从特定的仪器和发现几个NM提取技术的适用性，利用一个独特的属性NM的独特的现象NM，最小的自由能存在于NM在溶剂-水或水-固体界面。通过监控当今环境中的一些NM，可以收集信息和数据并用于验证生命周期模型。研究围绕以下四个研究组成部分进行：（1）城市水梯度的纳米勘探;（2）食品供应系统中的纳米勘探;（3）利用界面从水中提取纳米材料;（4）对水生系统进行纳米材料长期监测的框架。纳米勘探建立在环境界处理其他新兴污染物和技术转变的经验基础上，并且与生命周期观点互补。具体而言，该项目将向科学界提供关于人类（通过食物）和生态系统（通过城市水梯度）接触“真实的”纳米材料的现实水平和特征的估计，而不是仅为研究级测试而购买或合成的纳米材料。将开发新的提取方法和分析响应数据的信号处理。该研究的动机是以下科学问题：在城市水梯度中检测纳米材料的频率是多少？在散装食品配料和成品食品中纳米级TiO 2和SiO2的存在情况和特性是什么？如何利用纳米级物体在液体或固体界面上吸附的独特性质从水中提取纳米材料并促进其表征？能否建立监测框架和监测站网络，以提供关于水中纳米材料的基线和长期数据？更广泛的影响：通过专注于现场规模的监测，我们希望引导环境纳米技术领域建立适合于监测环境相关浓度的纳米物质的协议。研究人员已经证明了他们对指导性别和种族不同的本科生和研究生的承诺。该项目资助的研究生将参加实验室外的科学，这是一个在华盛顿举行的为期两周的沉浸式研讨会，探讨科学如何成为政策。该项目与美国国家科学基金会中央亚利桑那州的长期生态研究（CAP-LTER）计划相结合，采取类似的纵向方法，沿沿着城市水梯度观察NM，该项目收集的实地数据将成为CAP-LTER数据档案的一部分。该研究团队有兴趣和公众可见的进行研究的记录，并将继续努力与公众分享我们的成果，包括与亚利桑那州立大学社会纳米技术中心合作。

CBET - 1336542 Engineered nanomaterials (NMs) are a new class of pollutants, and debate is growing regarding their potential hazard in the environment. This proposal aims to contribute towards gaining improved information on the exposure component of hazard assessment. Even for the high production volume (HPV) NMs used today in society (TiO2 and SiO2) there is a paucity of field monitoring data on their concentration or frequency of occurrence in aquatic systems. Environmental monitoring of NMs on the cusp of widespread use (e.g., Ag0, CeO2, CNT, C60, etc.) or futuristic high value-added NMs will remain unattainable unless frameworks and analytical methods exist to understand where and how to find NMs. We propose developing and applying a framework for monitoring NMs in the environment. Nanoprospecting is the first stage of this investigative framework, involving monitoring for the presence of HPV and emerging NMs at critical inputs to and points along the urban water system. Bulk food ingredients are a major potential source of NMs into the urban water system. To compliment the use of existing analytical approaches available today to detect NMs at environmentally relevant concentrations, we propose improvements to post-processing of data signals from specific instrumentation and discovering the suitability of several NM extraction techniques that leverage a unique property of NMs by exploiting the unique phenomena of NMs that a minimum free energy exists for NMs at the solvent-water or water-solid interface. By monitoring for a few NMs in the environment today, information and data can be collected and used in validating life cycle models. Research is organized around the following four research components: (1) Nanoprospecting across an urban water gradient; (2) Nanoprospecting in the food supply system; (3) Using interfaces for nanomaterial extraction from water; (4) Framework for long-term monitoring of aquatic systems for nanomaterials.Intellectual Merit :Nanoprospecting builds upon experiences of the environmental community dealing with other emerging contaminants and technologic shifts, and is complimentary to life cycle perspectives. Specifically, this project will provide the scientific community with estimates of realistic human (through food) and ecosystem (through urban water gradients) exposure levels and characteristics of "real" nanomaterials, as opposed to NMs purchased or synthesized solely for research-grade testing. New extraction methodologies and signal processing of analytical response data will be developed. The research is motivated by the following scientific questions: What is the frequency in detection of nanomaterials across the urban water gradient? What are the occurrences and characteristics of nanoscale TiO2 and SiO2 in bulk food ingredients and finished food products? How can the unique property that nanoscale objects adsorb at liquid or solid interfaces be harnessed to extract nanomaterials from water and facilitate their characterization? Could a monitoring framework and network of monitoring stations be established to provide baseline and longer-term data on nanomaterials in water? Broader Impacts :By focusing on field-scale monitoring we hope to lead the environmental nanotechnology field toward establishing protocols suitable for monitoring NMs at environmentally relevant concentrations. The researchers have a proven commitment to mentoring gender and ethnically iverse undergraduate and graduate students. The graduate student funded by this project will participate in Science Outside the Lab, a two-week immersive seminar in Washington, DC that explore how science becomes policy. The project connects with the NSF Central-Arizona hoenix Long Term Ecological Research (CAP-LTER) program, taking a similar longitudinal approach looking at NMs along the urban water gradient, and field data collected by this project will become part of the CAP-LTER data archives. The research team has a record of onducting research of interest and visible to the public, and will continue to strive to share our results with the public, including working with the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU.