Thermal Decomposition/incineration of Nano-Enabled Products (NEPs): Environmental Health and Safety Implications

PI: Philip K. demokritou提案号：CBET - 1436450纳米材料使越来越多的新材料得以生产。这些制造的产品被称为纳米产品（nep）。由于纳米材料组件的尺寸非常小，因此存在额外的物理，化学和生理危害，而不是归因于它们的块状对应物。因此，新能源产品的激增在其生命周期内，包括在其生命周期结束时的处置，构成了潜在的环境健康和安全风险。具体来说，NEPs在高温下分解并释放纳米材料，当它们被焚烧以进行最终处理或在偶然火灾下。拟议的研究是建立一个数据库，并提供有关这种热分解如何发生的基本知识。有了这些知识，就有可能设计出更安全的新能源产品。也就是说，“设计更安全”的能力将有助于消除nep的风险不确定性，并有助于纳米技术产业的可持续性。除了对工业的贡献外，拟议的研究还将让学生参与研究，并培训波士顿地区公立学校和爱德华·肯尼迪卫生职业学院的K-12教师和学生。无论是在焚烧设施中还是在偶然发生的火灾中，新能源产品的热分解都可能释放出合成过程中使用的纳米级材料，并对空气和土壤造成危害，对环境和人类健康构成潜在威胁和风险。在广泛使用的NEPs家族的热分解基础，潜在的纳米释放机制，副产物的特征和潜在的纳米ehs影响方面，存在重大的知识空白。为了填补这一巨大的知识空白，本文提出了一种新的方法方法，利用体外和体内实验，对当前的纳米风险评估范式进行研究，以解决焚烧过程中NEPs对EHS的影响：1)开发适合于与NEPs热分解相关的实际暴露的生成、物理化学和毒理学表征的“最佳实践”方法；2)证明这些方法的可重复性，并建立我们对影响目前市场上代表性NEPs类纳米释放因素的知识；3)利用已开发的方法和知识生成“设计更安全”的新环境防护措施和暴露控制策略。

PI: Philip K. DemokritouProposal Number: CBET - 1436450 Nano-sized materials have enabled an increasing number of new materials to be produced. These manufactured products are called Nano-Enabled Products (NEPs). Because of the extremely small sizes of the nano-material components, there are additional physical, chemical, and physiological hazards not attributed to their bulk counterparts. The proliferation of NEPs thus poses potential environmental health and safety (EHS) risks during their life cycle, including their disposal at the end of their life-cycle. Specifically, NEPs decompose and release nano-materials under elevated temperatures when they are incinerated for their final disposal or under incidental fires. The proposed study is to generate a data base and to provide knowledge on the fundamentals of how such thermal decomposition takes place. With this knowledge it should be possible to design safer NEPs. That is, the "safer-by-design" capability will help to remove risk-uncertainties of NEPs and contribute to the sustainability of the nano-technology industry. Besides contributions to industry, the proposed study will involve students in research and train K-12 teachers and students in Boston area public schools and the Edward M. Kennedy Academy of Health Careers. Thermal decomposition of NEPs, either in incineration facilities or in incidental fires, may release nano-scale materials used in their synthesis and produce air and soil hazards and potential threats and risks to the environmental and human health. There is a major knowledge gap on the fundamentals of thermal decomposition of widely used families of NEPs, potential nano-release mechanisms, and characteristics of byproducts and potential nano-EHS implications. In order to fill this large knowledge gap, a new methodological approach, using both in-vitro and in-vivo experiments, is proposed to the current nano-risk assessment paradigm to address EHS implications of NEPs during incineration: 1) Develop "best practice" methods suitable for the generation, physico-chemical and toxicological characterization of realistic exposures associated with thermal decomposition of NEPs; 2) Demonstrate the reproducibility of these methods and build our knowledge on factors influencing nano-release for representative classes of NEPs currently in the market; and 3) Utilize the developed methods and knowledge to generate "safer by design" NEPs and exposure control strategies.