Environmental Fate and Ecotoxicity of Engineered Nanoparticles
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Nanoparticles and the environment ENVIRONMENTAL FATE AND ECOTOXICITY 2304 OF ENGINEERED NANOPARTICLES 2007 Nanoparticles and the environment (TA-2304/2007) This report may be cited as: Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (2008) Environmental fate and ecotoxicity of engineered nanoparticles. Report no. TA 2304/2007. Eds.: E.J. Joner, T. Hartnik and C.E. Amundsen. Bioforsk, Ås. 64 pp. ISBN 978-82-7655-540-0 2 Nanoparticles and the environment (TA-2304/2007) Environmental fate and ecotoxicity of engineered nanoparticles Norwegian Pollution Control Authority Report no. TA-2304/2007 This report has been produced by Bioforsk (Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental research) on behalf of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (Statens forurensningstilsyn). Authors: Erik J. Joner, Thomas Hartnik and Carl Einar Amundsen Project leader: Erik J. Joner, Bioforsk Soil and Environment. Responsible at the Pollution Control Authority: Bård Nordbø 3 Nanoparticles and the environment (TA-2304/2007) Preface The present report is a review of scientific results on the potential negative impact of engineered nanoparticles on the environment. It is intended as a background document for the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (Statens forurensningstilsyn) in their work with regulatory issues related to the release of engineered nanoparticles into the environment. The report was written by senior scientist Erik J Joner and colleagues at the Soil and Environment Division of BIOFORSK (Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research), who are currently conducting research in this area. Responsible at the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority has been Bård Nordbø. Forord Denne rapporten er en gjennomgang av vitenskaplig litteratur som omhandler mulige negative miljøvirkninger av produserte nanopartikler. Den er ment som et bidrag i Statens Forurensningstilsyns arbeid med forvaltningsmessige problemstillinger i forhold til utslipp og spredning av produserte nanopartikler til miljøet. Rapporten er skrevet av seniorforsker Erik J Joner og medarbeidere ved Bioforsk Jord og Miljø som deltar aktivt i forskning på dette området. Kontaktperson i Statens forurensningstilsyn har vært Bård Nordbø. Ås, January 2008 Erik J Joner Senior scientist, Bioforsk Soil and Environment 4 Nanoparticles and the environment (TA-2304/2007) Table of contents 1. Summary.................................................................................................................... 6. 2. Norsk sammendrag (Norwegian summary) .......................................................... 7. 3. Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... 8. 4. Background ............................................................................................................... 9. 5. Definitions ............................................................................................................... 11. 6. Crude classification and occurrence of nanoparticles ........................................ 13. 7. An overview of different types of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs).................. 15. 8. How to describe nanoparticles .............................................................................. 19. 9. Methods to describe and detect nanoparticles .................................................... 22. 9.1. Qualitative methods .......................................................................................... 22. 9.2. Quantitative methods for measurements in environmental samples ................. 23. 10. State-of the-art knowledge on behavior and ecotoxicity of ENPs ..................... 26. 10.1. Background .....................................................................................................26. 10.2. Mobility of ENPs ............................................................................................ 27. 10.3. Other aspects affecting the fate of ENPs ......................................................... 29. 10.4. Degradability ...................................................................................................29. 10.5. Toxicity and ecotoxicity, general considerations ............................................ 30. 10.6. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) ...................................................................... 31. 10.7. Ecotoxicity ......................................................................................................32. 10.8. Bioassays – taking bioavailability into account .............................................. 33. 10.9. Ecotoxicity of C60 fullerenes........................................................................... 34. 10.10. Ecotoxicity of carbon nanotubes ................................................................... 36. 10.11. Ecotoxicity of metal nanoparticles ................................................................ 37. 10.12. Ecotoxicity of oxide nanoparticles ................................................................ 38. 10.13. Ecotoxicity of other nanoparticles ................................................................. 39. 11. Exposure to ENPs ................................................................................................... 40. 12. Environmental hazards and risks.......................................................................... 42. 12.1. Background .....................................................................................................42. 12.2. Environmental risk assessment of nanoparticles ............................................. 43. 12.2.1. Overview ............................................................................................ 43. 12.2.2. Hazard assessment .............................................................................. 43. 12.2.3. Dose-response assessment .................................................................. 43. 12.2.4. Exposure assessment .......................................................................... 44. 12.2.5. Risk characterisation .......................................................................... 46. 12.3. Current state of environmental risk assessment of ENPs ................................ 46. 12.4. Challenges in the risk assessment of ENPs ..................................................... 48. 12.5. The European Commission’s efforts on risk assessment of ENPs ................. 49. 12.6. Norwegian efforts in risk assessment of ENPs ............................................... 50. 13. Regulatory efforts .................................................................................................. 51. 14. Future research needs ............................................................................................ 53. 15. Further reading ...................................................................................................... 55. 16. References ............................................................................................................... 57. 5 Nanoparticles and the environment (TA-2304/2007) 1. Summary The present report is an overview of the scientific knowledge on potential negative effects that engineered nanoparticles may have on the environment. Research and development in nanotechnologies increase strongly and attract substantial funding, but environmental consequences of resulting materials and applications are poorly known. One group of nanomaterials, namely free engineered nanoparticles, have attracted attention in this context, as they have been highlighted as a group of materials that may have potentially adverse effects on human health and the environment. Research on human and environmental toxicity (i.e. ecotoxicity) of this group of materials has recently started, and draws upon existing knowledge in toxicology, ecotoxicology and environmental sciences in an attempt to predict potential future problems related to spreading of engineered nanoparticles in the environment. This report has gathered the existing knowledge in this area as an aid to Norwegian regulatory bodies to take proactive initiatives to prevent future large-scale environmental problems with these materials. Such efforts will also depend on coordinated international initiatives in which Norway wish to play an active part. The report points out that a number of engineered nanoparticles are indeed suspicious in an environmental and ecotoxicological context. Yet, no immediate action seems necessary to prevent pollution with these particles in Norway since there are no current applications that are expected to result in significant losses to the environment. Regulatory initiatives should be based on demonstrated or suspected harmful effects of specific nanoparticles and a high probability of such particles being mobile in the environment. So far, scientific evidence show that some nanoparticles have toxic effects under laboratory conditions, but practically nothing is known about their mobility and uptake in organisms under environmental conditions. There is thus an urgent need for research on interactions between nanoparticles and environmental matrices (water, sediments and soils) and ecotoxicity studies that take into account the anticipated modifying effect of such matrices on uptake in organisms and toxicity. This report has been written by a group of researchers at Bioforsk Soil and Environment who are currently conducting research on environmental fate and toxicity of nanoparticles (Erik J. Joner), ecotoxicity