Rapid Collaborative Proposal: Characterization, Quantification, and Transport of Incidental Nanomaterials from Wildland-Urban Fires in Surface Waters

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Fire is a natural process in many ecosystems worldwide, however it is also a serious environmental concern with implications human and environmental health. Fire activity and associated environmental impacts are projected to increase globally as a result of climate and societal changes. On August 15th, 2020, a large lightning storm moved across the western United States igniting many wildfires. These fires have burned more than 8 million acres of land and more than 10,000 urban structures in 12 states with California being the most impacted. Fire liberates metals stored in plants, soils, and structural materials, likely in the form of incidental nanomaterials. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) Collaborative project will collect time-sensitive samples and data related to the 2020 fire season. Researchers at California State University, Chico, California will collect ash and water samples and will perform water analysis. Researchers at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina will perform incidental nanomaterial analysis. This research will examine the composition, properties, transformations, and mobilization of fire-generated incidental nanomaterials in surface water receiving runoff from burned areas. This project will support the training of a postdoctoral fellow. Methods, data, and tools generated in this project will be integrated into existing undergraduate and graduate curricula at the University of South Carolina and California State University. Broader impacts to society will result from an improved understanding of pollutants generated by wildland-urban fires and their potential impacts on water resources. Such information can lead to better management strategies of water resources during and after wildland-urban fires to protect environmental and human health.The 2020 fire season is one of the worst on record in the western United States, affecting more than 8 million acres of land and destroying more than 10,000 urban structures. The combustion of vegetation and structural materials in the wildland-urban interface liberates metals stored in these materials, likely in the form of incidental nanomaterials in residual and transported fire ash. Overland runoff mobilizes these incidental nanomaterials to downstream surface waters, causing environmental and human health concerns. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) Collaborative project will collect time-sensitive samples and data related to the 2020 fire season. Researchers at the California State University will collect ash and water samples and will perform water analysis. Researchers at the University of South Carolina will perform incidental nanomaterial analysis. This research seeks to answer the following fundamental questions: 1) what metal-based incidental nanomaterials are formed due to the burning of different forests and structures? 2) what transformations do incidental nanomaterials undergo following rainfall events? and 3) will incidental nanomaterials persist in the environment? The proposed research will provide a comprehensive understanding of fire-formed incidental nanomaterials by generating complementary data on incidental nanomaterial size, shape, composition, and phase. These data will be generated by adopting a state-of-the-art multi-method approach to characterize the properties of incidental nanomaterials including single particle–inductively coupled plasma–time of flight–mass spectroscopy, high resolution-transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The broader impacts of the proposed research include: 1) identifying novel research questions in the area of wildland-urban fire-borne contamination; 2) providing data to other fields such as public health to improve understanding of diseases linked to fire incidental nanomaterial exposure; 3) providing data that can be used to develop and validate incidental nanomaterials fate models; 4) providing data to public utilities such as drinking water treatment plants to improve their treatment design to ensure safe drinking water treatment, and 5) integrating the methods, data, and tools generated in this proposed research into existing undergraduate and graduate curricula at the University of South Carolina and California State University.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.