Environmental risks of engineered nanoparticles in municipal wastewater treatment plants: Toxicity, persistence and impacts on effluent quality

银、二氧化钛、氧化锌和其他材料的纳米粒子现在可以在1000多种商业产品中找到，包括不粘锅、网球拍和燃料电池，以及食品、纺织品和个人护理产品。它们代表了一组不同的人造材料，至少有一个尺寸小于人类头发直径的千倍。由于化学性质的变化，当一个人接近纳米尺度时，它们已被证明与大块材料或溶解离子具有显着不同的反应性。尽管这些材料的使用日益增长和广泛，但它们对环境和人类健康的影响在很大程度上是未知的。个人护理产品（化妆品、牙膏、防晒霜）中的纳米颗粒在家庭洗涤时被释放到市政下水道中。人们担心它们的最终命运和对环境的影响，环境监管机构正在问：多少浓度的纳米颗粒将与废水一起排放到这里

Nanoparticles of silver, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and other materials can now be found in over 1000 commercial products including non-stick cookware, tennis racquets and fuel cells, as well as in food products, textiles, and personal care products. They represent a diverse group of manmade materials that have at least one dimension less than thousand times the diameter of human hair. Due to the changes in the chemical properties that occur as one approaches the nanoscales they have been shown to have significantly different reactivity from either the bulk materials or dissolved ions. In spite of their growing and widespread use, the impacts of these materials on the environment and human health are largely unknown. Nanoparticles present in personal care products (cosmetics, toothpastes, sunscreen lotions) are released into municipal sewers from households during washing. There is concern about their eventual fate and impact on the environment and environmental regulators are asking: What concentrations of nanoparticles will be discharged with wastewater effluents into