Predicted Releases of Engineered Nanomaterials: From Global to Regional to Local

TLDR

The study addresses the need to determine which environmental engineered nanomaterial concentrations should be considered by industry, regulators, toxicologists, and risk assessors, emphasizing the requirement for local‑level ENM material flow estimates. Using a life‑cycle approach, the authors estimated global, regional, national, and local ENM releases from production and application data, then projected local emissions into water, soil, and air pathways, and applied waste‑management data from dozens of countries to model the flow of ten major ENMs across eight world regions. Applying the model to U.S.

Abstract

A key question for industry, regulators, toxicologists, and risk assessors working with nanomaterials is what relevant environmental engineered nanomaterial (ENM) concentrations should be considered. Answering this question requires ENM material flow estimates at the local level. Using a life-cycle approach, global ENM production and application data were used to estimate releases at global, regional, national, and local levels. Local level emissions were then used to estimate releases to water (direct and from wastewater treatment effluent), soils (direct and from runoff and biosolids), and air (direct and from incineration of ENM-containing products). Waste management data for dozens of countries were used to estimate the flow of 10 major ENMs through eight world regions. A national and local release example was conducted with data from the United States, providing predicted wastewater effluent concentrations for the San Francisco Bay area, ranging from low nanograms per liter to micrograms per liter depending on the ENM.