Ecotoxicity and transport of nanoparticles released from commercial products

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Nanotechnology is met with both excitement and scepticism. On the one hand there are tremendous technological opportunities through the exploitation of the unique properties of nanoparticles. On the other hand, there is concern that nanoparticles will have adverse effects on human and ecological health when they are released to the environment. Unfortunately, the risks of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) to soil and subsurface environments are as yet unknown, limited, in part, by a lack of basic scientific understanding of their release from commercial products, as well as their ecotoxicity and subsurface transport. Limited knowledge exists regarding ENP release from commercial products, as such released ENP characteristics and quantification of possible environmental concentrations is limited. Furthermore toxicity, fate, and transport work completed to date has been performed with pristine ENPs, as received from the supplier, without consideration of the true characteristics of ENPs released from commercial products. Finally ENP toxicity studies to date have typically focused on single organism testing systems whereas the interaction of ENPs with the biological components of ecosystems at the community level has not been captured. This proposed study will attempt to fill these knowledge gaps by determining potential environmental levels of selected ENPs, quantifying the transport of selected ENPs in porous media and evaluating the ecotoxicity and fate of selected ENPs in soil and wetland systems. The work proposed herein is urgently needed by policy makers to make informed decisions related to the use of nanotechnology and enable Canada to benefit from nanotechnology applications. This information will be used in a wide range of environmental nanotechnology fields. The project will support six summer students, six graduate students, and two postdoctoral fellows. This study will provide invaluable information for policy development surrounding nanotechnology both in Canada and throughout the world.