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. 2021 Sep 28;11(10):2537.
doi: 10.3390/nano11102537.

Assessment of Nanopollution from Commercial Products in Water Environments

Raisibe Florence Lehutso  1   2 , Melusi Thwala  1   3   4
Affiliations

Assessment of Nanopollution from Commercial Products in Water Environments

Raisibe Florence Lehutso et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

The use of nano-enabled products (NEPs) can release engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) into water resources, and the increasing commercialisation of NEPs raises the environmental exposure potential. The current study investigated the release of ENMs and their characteristics from six commercial products (sunscreens, body creams, sanitiser, and socks) containing nTiO2, nAg, and nZnO. ENMs were released in aqueous media from all investigated NEPs and were associated with ions (Ag+ and Zn2+) and coating agents (Si and Al). NEPs generally released elongated (7-9 × 66-70 nm) and angular (21-80 × 25-79 nm) nTiO2, near-spherical (12-49 nm) and angular nAg (21-76 × 29-77 nm), and angular nZnO (32-36 × 32-40 nm). NEPs released varying ENMs' total concentrations (ca 0.4-95%) of total Ti, Ag, Ag+, Zn, and Zn2+ relative to the initial amount of ENMs added in NEPs, influenced by the nature of the product and recipient water quality. The findings confirmed the use of the examined NEPs as sources of nanopollution in water resources, and the physicochemical properties of the nanopollutants were determined. Exposure assessment data from real-life sources are highly valuable for enriching the robust environmental risk assessment of nanotechnology.

Keywords: aquatic environments; engineered nanomaterials; nano-enabled products; nanopollution; physicochemical properties.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
TEM images of product-released ENMs obtained under light conditions for SUN1 detected in Milli-Q water (A), freshwater (B), swimming pool water (C), seawater (D), SUN2 detected in Milli-Q water (E), freshwater (F), swimming pool water (G), seawater (H) and SUN3 detected in Milli-Q water (I), freshwater (J), swimming pool water (K), seawater (L).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Zeta potential of product-released ENMs (PR–ENMs) obtained under light conditions in different release media of Milli-Q water (MQ), freshwater (FW), swimming pool water (SWP), and seawater (SS).
Figure 3
Figure 3
TEM-EDX illustrating SAN1-released ENMs (A) and binary CA1-released ENMs obtained under light conditions (B). (B1,B2) are higher magnification of image B showing product-released nAg and product-released nTiO2, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Images and respective spectra obtained from TEM-EDX characterisation of SK1-released ENMs (A). Images (A1,A2) are high magnification of image A, specifically showing near-spherical SK1-released nAg and angular SK1-released nTiO2 particles, respectively.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The amount of Zn2+, Zn, and Ti released from SUN1–3 in different release media (Milli-Q water (MQ), freshwater (FW), swimming pool water (SPW), and seawater (SS) under light (L) and dark (D) conditions.The differing of symbols (★ ■ ▲) on top of error bars indicates statistical difference (p < 0.05) between the release media treatments.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The amounts of SAN1 and CA1-released nAg and released Ag ions; L and D denote light and dark conditions, respectively.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Total amounts of Ag (A) and Ti (B) released from SK1 in Milli-Q water (MQ), tap water (TW), sodium dodecyl sulfate 1 (SDS1), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS2) in two wash cycles. The symbol (★ ■) on top of error bars denote statistical difference (p < 0.05) between the released Ag and Ti fractions per wash cycle.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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