{"id":5112,"date":"2011-05-04T17:20:23","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T21:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=5112"},"modified":"2011-05-04T17:20:23","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T21:20:23","slug":"unseen-and-unforeseen-measuring-nanomaterials-in-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2011\/05\/04\/unseen-and-unforeseen-measuring-nanomaterials-in-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Unseen and unforeseen: measuring nanomaterials in the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>International interest and investment in nanotechnology is growing\u2014said panelists in this morning\u2019s public forum<\/a> in Washington, D.C. hosted by RTI International<\/a>\u2014and development and commercialization of this technology need to meet societal expectations. That is, explained moderator Jim Trainham of RTI, the public is concerned with understanding and controlling nanotechnology since, if it cannot be controlled, the technology is not considered helpful to society.<\/p>\n

Perhaps surprisingly, nanoparticles<\/a> are not just synthetic, engineered nanotubes\u2014nanoparticles occur naturally as salt from ocean spray or as ash from a volcanic eruption. \u201cWe are exposed to nanomaterials constantly,\u201d said Cole Matson from Duke University\u2019s Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, \u201cevery breath we take.\u201d It is this abundance of tiny materials that makes measuring the engineered nanoparticles more difficult. As Michele Ostraat from RTI\u2019s Center for Aerosol and Nanomaterials Engineering explained, it is almost impossible for researchers to distinguish between background\u2014that is the common, everyday nanoparticles\u2014and engineered particles. Even more complicated, she said, there is a general lack of instrumentation that can perform real-time field measurements.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the concern with regulating nanotechnology is finding a way to measure how the engineered particles interact with the environment, including how\u00a0 the environment alters these particles once released. It is a matter of measuring the risk to human and ecosystem health by determining the exposure to and hazard of the materials, Matson explained. \u201cEverything has an impact,\u201d said Matson, \u201cthe question is, is it detrimental?\u201d<\/p>\n

So far there are general answers to these broad environmental questions. According to Matson, nanoparticles will reach the environment, they will be taken up by organisms, they may be toxic, they can alter ecosystems\u2014including \u201cmanaged\u201d ecosystems such as wastewater treatment facilities\u2014and they do interact with other contaminants.<\/p>\n

For all that is still unknown, there are some existing tools that are known being used to track the effects of nanomaterials, said Sally Tinkle from the U.S. National Science and Technology Council. For example, she said, \u201cwe have a long history of tracking particulate matter.\u201d Matson and Ostraat agreed that aerosol research<\/a> is the most prepared for tracking the distribution of nanoparticles. \u201cWe are farther ahead with air than water and particularly soils,\u201d said Matson.<\/p>\n

One of the primary challenges is that, like any material, nanoparticles change when introduced to an environment. The physical and chemical properties shift, said Tinkle, \u201cgold becomes red, carbon becomes electric.\u201d As Matson outlined as an example, salt alters particles in a marine ecosystem. Therefore, how nanoparticles are affected by salinity in the ocean determines where the particles will be distributed in the water column. Understanding this dispersal could help determine which marine organisms would likely be the most impacted by exposure to nanomaterials.<\/p>\n

Jim Alwood from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emphasized that more data are needed to improve nanotechnology regulations. But measuring nanomaterials in the environment is difficult, said Ostraat, since nanoparticles do not have a mass, and large particles will create a weight bias in filters designed for measuring these tiny materials. In other words, weighing nanoparticles would not have accurate results. In addition, nanoparticles have a unique dispersal: A nanoparticle \u201cfalls one micron due to gravity,\u201d said Ostraat, \u201cbut will diffuse 200 microns.\u201d Therefore, as Matson concluded, \u201cdesigning regulations based on size will not be effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanotechnology will have impacts in \u201cways we cannot presently imagine,\u201d said Jim Trainham. The challenge for scientists, then, is predicting these effects before they become a hazard to the environment and public health. Nanotechnology is undeniably a growing field\u2014according to Tinkle, a$3 trillion business by 2020, a projection based on current products in the nanotechnology field. The panelists all agreed that many countries are seeing the potential for advances in medicine, electronics and alternative energy that are made possible through nanotechnology. However, this rapid growth brings unpredictable challenges.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Clearly Ambiguous<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International interest and investment in nanotechnology is growing\u2014said panelists in this morning\u2019s public forum in Washington, D.C. hosted by RTI International\u2014and development and commercialization of this technology need to meet societal expectations. That is, explained moderator Jim Trainham of RTI, the public is concerned with understanding and controlling nanotechnology since, if it cannot be controlled, the technology is not considered…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[327,92,93,477,484,630,1050,631,973,467,996,22],"class_list":["post-5112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","tag-carbon","tag-environment","tag-epa","tag-health","tag-materials","tag-nanotechnology","tag-public","tag-public-health","tag-society","tag-soil","tag-wastewater","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}