Collaborative Research: The Unintended Ecological Consequences of Nanomaterials: Effects of nanotitania in benthic systems

合作研究：纳米材料的意外生态后果：纳米二氧化钛对底栖系统的影响

• 批准号: 1067751
• 负责人: Kimberly Gray
• 金额: $ 35.75万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-04-01 至 2016-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1067751&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Unintended; Ecological; Consequences

1067751/1067439Gray/KellySociety is seeing the rapid transition of nanotechnology as it moves from discovery to commercialization. This revolution in atomic and molecular engineering promises many environmental and human health benefits such as dramatic improvements in efficiency, reduced resource use and waste production, and astounding improvements in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Yet, the risks posed by nanotechnology to ecological and environmental health have not been rigorously assessed, and without these data a meaningful regulatory framework to protect human and environmental health and safety and guide the development of nanomaterials cannot be formulated. The defining characteristic of nanomaterials (NMs) is their size (at least one dimension of 100 nm or less), which falls into a transitional zone between individual atoms and molecules, and bulk materials. The small sizes, novel shapes, and high surface areas promote unusual and novel physicochemical properties to NMs and make possible nearly infinite possibilities for surface functionalization, targeted reactivity and robust material development. These very features, however, open unimagined opportunity for engineering, scientific and medical applications may also pose threats to human health and ecosystem integrity. At this time it is virtually impossible to make predictions about NM environmental fate and impact. Subtle changes in size, shape and surface functionality have profound effects on chemical and physical behavior. Furthermore, the protocols to screen and then, interrogate systems at the mechanistic level and to determine dose effects rigorously are lacking. The purpose of the proposed research is to study fundamental interactions of a representative nanomaterial (various forms of nanotitania) in biological and environmental systems at increasing scale, from subcellular through ecosystem, in order to develop a testing and measurement strategy that comprehensively characterizes the ecotoxicity of nano-scaled TiO2. The applicants propose a three-year collaborative research project that involves environmental engineers and scientists from Northwestern University (NU) and ecologists Loyola University of Chicago (LUC). This project combines the unique capabilities of nanomaterial synthesis and characterization that exist at NU with those at LUC in the field of ecology that will allow us to elucidate the effects of NM on the structure and function of benthic ecosystems. The proposed work is based on a long running collaboration among NU and LUC researchers and will be performed in novel experimental facilities well adapted to interrogating NM effects in biological systems at multiple scales. In view of the collaborative strengths and established infrastructure surrounding this project, the intellectual merit of the proposed study promises to make critical advances in understanding the relationships between NM characteristics, environmental fate and biological consequence and to probe the mechanistic basis for ecosystem responses to NM exposure. With the ability to synthesize state-of-the-art TiO2 NMs that are currently the more widely used nanoscale materials and are likely to be used even more extensively in the future, this research will improve the characterization of the environmental, health and safety aspects of NM by detailing the physical and chemical properties of the nanotitania under study. This will be accomplished by measuring the fate, transport and environmental stability of NM under relevant conditions, and conducting ecotoxicological testing at multiple scales. The broader impacts of the results of this study will not only inform the systematic evaluation of NM health and safety and serve as a model for developing the necessary scientific basis for meaningful policy formulation, but they will also illustrate a strategy to supply critical feedback to the design and production of environmentally-safe NMs. This research promises transformative insights that parallel the technology revolution of nanotechnology, itself and will help to guide NM development along routes of reduced ecotoxicity. They propose to move beyond the identification of biomarkers associated with single component responses (e.g., reactive oxygen species) to discover meaningful NM definitions based on properties not simply size and bioindicators that signal complex chemical and biological interactions at the system level. The results of this research will illustrate the feasibility of comprehensive ecotoxicological testing, but will also reveal the extent to which screening results are predictive of system level response. The broader impacts of this proposed collaborative research are also strongly connected to education at the pre-college, undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels, as well as to community level outreach. The research team will promote interdisciplinary exchange among ecologists, environmental engineers, molecular biologists and analytical chemists. Both NU and LUC have strong commitments to undergraduate education and actively involve undergrads in research. A strong mentoring environment exists at both NU and LUC and will nurture the scientific development of a diverse team of students.

1067751/1067439Gray/KellySociety 见证了纳米技术从发现到商业化的快速转变。原子和分子工程的这场革命有望带来许多环境和人类健康益处，例如效率的显着提高、资源使用和废物产生的减少以及医疗诊断和治疗方面的惊人改进。然而，纳米技术对生态和环境健康造成的风险尚未得到严格评估，如果没有这些数据，就无法制定有意义的监管框架来保护人类和环境健康与安全并指导纳米材料的发展。纳米材料 (NM) 的定义特征是它们的尺寸（至少一维为 100 nm 或更小），它属于单个原子和分子与块体材料之间的过渡区域。小尺寸、新颖的形状和高表面积促进了纳米材料不寻常和新颖的物理化学性质，并为表面功能化、有针对性的反应性和稳健的材料开发提供了近乎无限的可能性。然而，这些特征为工程、科学和医学应用提供了难以想象的机会，也可能对人类健康和生态系统完整性构成威胁。目前几乎不可能对新墨西哥州的环境命运和影响进行预测。尺寸、形状和表面功能的细微变化对化学和物理行为产生深远的影响。此外，缺乏在机械层面上筛选、询问系统以及严格确定剂量效应的方案。拟议研究的目的是研究代表性纳米材料（各种形式的纳米二氧化钛）在从亚细胞到生态系统的规模不断扩大的生物和环境系统中的基本相互作用，以便开发一种测试和测量策略，全面表征纳米材料的生态毒性。纳米级二氧化钛。申请人提出了一个为期三年的合作研究项目，涉及西北大学（NU）的环境工程师和科学家以及芝加哥洛约拉大学（LUC）的生态学家。该项目结合了 NU 和 LUC 在生态学领域的纳米材料合成和表征的独特能力，使我们能够阐明纳米材料对底栖生态系统结构和功能的影响。拟议的工作基于 NU 和 LUC 研究人员之间的长期合作，并将在非常适合在多个尺度上探究生物系统中 NM 效应的新型实验设施中进行。鉴于围绕该项目的合作优势和已建立的基础设施，拟议研究的智力价值有望在理解 NM 特征、环境命运和生物后果之间的关系方面取得重大进展，并探讨生态系统对 NM 暴露的反应的机制基础。凭借合成最先进的 TiO2 NM 的能力（目前使用更广泛的纳米级材料，并且未来可能会得到更广泛的使用），这项研究将改善环境、健康和安全方面的表征通过详细介绍所研究的纳米二氧化钛的物理和化学性质，对 NM 进行了研究。这将通过测量相关条件下 NM 的归宿、运输和环境稳定性，并进行多尺度的生态毒理学测试来实现。这项研究结果的更广泛影响不仅将为 NM 健康和安全的系统评估提供信息，并作为为有意义的政策制定提供必要的科学基础的模型，而且还将说明向 NM 健康和安全提供关键反馈的策略。设计和生产环境安全的纳米材料。这项研究带来了与纳米技术本身的技术革命并行的变革性见解，并将有助于指导纳米材料沿着减少生态毒性的方向发展。他们建议超越与单一成分反应（例如活性氧）相关的生物标志物的识别，以发现有意义的 NM 定义，其基础是基于属性，而不仅仅是尺寸和生物指示剂，这些生物指示剂在系统水平上发出复杂的化学和生物相互作用的信号。这项研究的结果将说明综合生态毒理学测试的可行性，但也将揭示筛选结果对系统级响应的预测程度。这项拟议的合作研究的更广泛影响也与大学预科、本科、研究生和研究生层次的教育以及社区层面的外展密切相关。研究团队将促进生态学家、环境工程师、分子生物学家和分析化学家之间的跨学科交流。 NU 和 LUC 都坚定地致力于本科教育，并积极让本科生参与研究。 NU 和 LUC 都拥有强大的指导环境，将培养多元化学生团队的科学发展。