Explore the latest news from EDGE, where we investigate environmental geosciences and the impact of human activities on ecosystems. Stay updated on our research, achievements, and efforts to address pressing environmental challenges.
New publication in Nanosciences: Towards Standardization for Determining Dissolution Kinetics of Nanomaterials in Natural Aquatic Environments: Continuous Flow Dissolution of Ag Nanoparticles
In aquatic environments, dissolution is an important mechanism governing the fate of metal-based engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), and the release of toxic dissolved metals. However, high degree of uncertainty remains when it comes to understanding dissolution kinetics of ENMs in natural aquatic systems, mostly due to the lack of standardized procedures adapted for dissolution testing of ENMs under environmentally relevant scenarios.
In this context, Lucie Stetten, postdoctoral researcher, together with colleagues from EDGE, have developed a continuous flow setup adapted to expose micrograms of ENMs to a constant flow of aqueous media in order to mimic ENMs dissolution in surface waters. Dissolution rates of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were successfully determined in aqueous media, including simple electrolyte solutions (10 mM NaNO3) and artificial acidic and near-neutral/alkaline surface waters.
In view of the current lack of harmonized methods, this work encourages the standardization of continuous flow dissolution methods toward OECD test guidelines focused on natural aquatic environments, for the production of more reliable data to implement in geochemical models and adapted risk assessments.
