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: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=709481
• 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 (ENP) 的尺寸至少在 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。 ENP 可以通过径流和废水排放从这些产品释放到水生系统中。大量的原始形式的 ENP（作为产品配方中的成分）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，因此迫切需要研究增加 ENP 释放到水生环境中的潜在环境和健康影响。 本研究将研究的一个重要问题是产品在其生命周期中释放的 ENP 的环境行为和毒性是否与原始 ENP 相似或不同。产品中释放的 ENP 比原始 ENP 更容易导致环境受体暴露，因此需要彻底检查其特性的差异。鉴于 ENP 的高比表面积和反应活性，它们暴露于环境中可能会导致各种化学和物理转变，从而可能影响 ENP 的潜在毒性。因此，为了更好地评估 ENP 释放的环境风险，将调查 ENP 在其环境相关状态下的命运和毒性。 该研究将由 4 名博士生、3 名硕士生和 5 名本科生进行，他们将成为申请人积极研究计划的组成部分，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实验室使用尖端分析仪器对一套广泛使用的 ENP 进行严格表征来进行调查。精心设计的实验将研究聚集行为以及与各种地表水和地下水成分的化学相互作用。原始和产品释放的 ENP 的潜在毒性将在代表地表水和地下水成分的水样中进行评估。 鉴于 ENP 在加拿大和其他地方被作为新物质进行监管，因此有必要就释放到加拿大环境中的 ENP 的命运和毒性建立坚实的知识库。新兴的纳米技术领域具有改善我们的社会和经济福祉的巨大潜力，但与环境中的 ENP 相关的风险仍然存在不确定性。拟议的研究将有助于加强 ENP 的生态风险评估。该研究将通过出版物、会议以及与多个政府和工业机构持续的研究合作伙伴关系进行传播。