Physical and Chemical Transformations of Engineered Nanoparticles: Implications for Environmental Fate in Aquatic Environments

工程纳米粒子的物理和化学转化：对水生环境中环境归宿的影响

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-05022
• 负责人: Ghoshal, Subhasis
• 金额: $ 3.06万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=651808
• 关键词: Physical; Chemical; Transformations; Engineered; Nanoparticles

Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), which have at least one dimension in the range of 1-100 nm, are used in the manufacture of various household and industrial products (e.g. personal care products, paints and coatings) to enable or enhance specific functions. ENPs can be released from these products to aquatic systems with runoff and wastewater effluents. A significant number of these ENPs in their ‘pristine' forms (as ingredients in product formulations) have been shown to be toxic to aquatic and other organisms. Surface and groundwaters are sources of our drinking water as well as important components of our ecosystem, and thus research into the potential environmental and health impacts of increasing releases of ENPs to aquatic environments is an urgent necessity.***An important question that will be investigated in this research is whether the environmental behavior and toxicity of ENPs released from products during their lifecycle is similar or different from ‘pristine' ENPs. It is the ENPs released from products that are more likely to cause exposures to environmental receptors than ‘pristine' ENPs, and thus differences in their properties need to be thoroughly examined. Given the high specific surface area and reactivity of ENPs, their exposure to the environment can result in various chemical and physical transformations which may impact the toxicity potential of ENPs. Thus, to better assess the environmental risks of ENP releases, the ENP fate and toxicity in their environmentally relevant states will be investigated.***The research will be conducted by 4 PhD, 3 Masters and 5 undergraduate students, who will be an integral part of the applicant's active research program which has other ongoing complementary projects. The research objectives will be investigated through rigorous characterization of a suite of widely used ENPs using cutting edge analytical instruments in the applicant's laboratory. Carefully designed experiments will investigate the aggregation behaviour and chemical interactions with various surface and groundwater components. The toxicity potential of the pristine and product-released ENPs will be assessed in water samples representative of surface and groundwater compositions. ***Given that ENPs are regulated as ‘new substances' in Canada and elsewhere, there is a need to develop a solid knowledge-base on the fate, and toxicity of ENPs released into the Canadian environment. The emerging field of nanotechnology has tremendous potential to improve our social and economic well-being, but there are still uncertainties about the risks associated with ENPs in the environment. The research proposed will help strengthen the ecological risk assessments of ENPs. The research will be disseminated through publications, conferences, and through ongoing research partnerships with several government and industrial institutions.

工程纳米颗粒（ENPs）的至少一个尺寸在1-100 nm范围内，用于制造各种家用和工业产品（例如个人护理产品、油漆和涂料），以实现或增强特定功能。这些产品可通过径流和废水排放将环境无害废弃物释放到水生系统中。大量“原始”形式（作为产品配方中的成分）的这些ENPs已被证明对水生生物和其他生物有毒。地表水和地下水是我们饮用水的来源，也是我们生态系统的重要组成部分，因此，迫切需要研究不断增加的ENPs对水生环境的潜在环境和健康影响。在这项研究中将调查的一个重要问题是，是否从产品的生命周期中释放的ENPs的环境行为和毒性是类似的或不同的“原始”ENPs。从产品中释放的ENPs比“原始”ENPs更有可能导致环境受体的暴露，因此需要彻底检查其特性的差异。鉴于ENPs的高比表面积和反应性，其暴露于环境中可导致各种化学和物理转化，这可能影响ENPs的潜在毒性。因此，为了更好地评估环境污染物排放的环境风险，将对环境相关状态下的环境污染物归宿和毒性进行调查。该研究将由4名博士，3名硕士和5名本科生进行，他们将成为申请人积极研究计划的一个组成部分，该计划还有其他正在进行的补充项目。研究目标将通过在申请人的实验室中使用尖端分析仪器对一套广泛使用的ENPs进行严格表征来进行研究。精心设计的实验将调查聚集行为和与各种地表水和地下水成分的化学相互作用。将在代表地表水和地下水成分的水样中评估原始和产品释放的ENPs的潜在毒性。* 鉴于在加拿大和其他地方，ENPs被作为“新物质”加以管制，有必要建立一个关于排放到加拿大环境中的ENPs的归宿和毒性的坚实知识基础。新兴的纳米技术领域具有改善我们社会和经济福祉的巨大潜力，但环境中与ENPs相关的风险仍然存在不确定性。建议的研究将有助于加强对ENPs的生态风险评估。研究将通过出版物、会议以及与几个政府和工业机构的持续研究伙伴关系进行传播。