Determination of metal-based nanoparticles in the river Dommel in the Netherlands via ultrafiltration, HR-ICP-MS and SEM.

We investigated the occurrence of metal-based nanoparticles in a natural system, the river Dommel in the Netherlands. The river itself is well-studied as far as hydrology and water quality is concerned, easily accessible and contains one major wastewater treatment plant discharging onto this river. We sampled water from various locations along the river and collected samples of influent, effluent and sewage sludge from the wastewater treatment plant. The sampling campaign was carried out in June 2015 and these samples were analysed for seven elements using high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS), ultrafiltration with a sequence of mesh sizes and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). From the results we conclude that there are indeed nanoparticles present in the treatment plant we studied, as we found titanium and gold particles in the influent and effluent. In the river water only 10 to 20% of the mass concentration of titanium, cerium and other elements we examined is made up of free, i.e. unattached, particles with a size smaller than 20 nm or of dissolved material. The rest is attached to natural colloids or is present as individual particles or clusters of smaller particles, as it could be filtered out with 450 nm ultrafilters. We found evidence that there is no appreciable anthropogenic emission of cerium into the river, based on the geochemical relationship between cerium and lanthanum. Besides, the effluent of the treatment plant has lower concentrations of some examined elements than the surface water upstream. The treatment plant discharges much less of these elements than estimated using previous publications. However, a potential diffuse source of titanium dioxide in the form of nanoparticles or of larger particles is their use in paints and coatings, as the concentration of titanium increased considerably in the urbanised area of the river Dommel.

Modelling the transport of engineered metallic nanoparticles in the river Rhine.

As engineered nanoparticles of zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and silver, are increasingly used in consumer products, they will most probably enter the natural environment via wastewater, atmospheric deposition and other routes. The aim of this study is to predict the concentrations of these nanoparticles via wastewater emissions in a typical river system by means of a numerical model. The calculations rely on estimates of the use of nanomaterials in consumer products and the removal efficiency in wastewater treatment plants as well as model calculations of the fate and transport of nanoparticles in a riverine system. The river Rhine was chosen for this work as it is one of the major and best studied rivers in Europe. The study gives insight in the concentrations that can be expected and, by comparing the model results with measurements of the total metal concentrations, of the relative contribution of these emerging contaminants. Six scenarios were examined. Two scenarios concerned the total emission: in the first it was assumed that nanoparticles are only released via wastewater (treated or untreated) and in the second it was assumed that in addition nanoparticles can enter the river system via runoff from the application of sludge as a fertilizer. In both cases the assumption was that the nanoparticles enter the river system as free, unattached particles. Four additional scenarios, based on the total emissions from the second scenario, were examined to highlight the consequences of the assumption of free nanoparticles and the uncertainties about the aggregation processes. If all nanoparticles enter as free particles, roughly a third would end up attached to suspended particulate matter due to the aggregation processes nanoparticles are subject to. For the other scenarios the contribution varies from 20 to 45%. Since the Rhine is a fast flowing river, sedimentation is unlikely to occur, except at the floodplains and the lakes in the downstream regions, as in fact shown by the sediment mass balance. Nanoparticles will therefore be transported along the whole river until they enter the North Sea. For the first scenario, the concentrations predicted for zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles are in the order of 0.5 µg/l, for silver nanoparticles in the order of 5 ng/l. For zinc and titanium compounds this amounts to 5-10% of the measured total metal concentrations, for silver to 2%. For the other scenarios, the predicted nanoparticle concentrations are two to three times higher. While there are still considerable uncertainties in the inputs and consequently the model results, this study predicts that nanoparticles are capable of being transported over long distances, in much the same way as suspended particulate matter.

Modeling aggregation and sedimentation of nanoparticles in the aquatic environment.

With nanoparticles being used more and more in consumer and industrial products it is almost inevitable that they will be released into the aquatic environment. In order to understand the possible environmental risks it is important to understand their behavior in the aquatic environment. From laboratory studies it is known that nanoparticles in the aquatic environment are subjected to a variety of processes: homoaggregation, heteroaggregation to suspended particulate matter and subsequent sedimentation, dissolution and chemical transformation. This article presents a mathematical model that describes these processes and their relative contribution to the behavior of nanoparticles in the aquatic environment. After calibrating the model with existing data, it is able to adequately describe the published experimental data with a single set of parameters, covering a wide range of initial concentrations. The model shows that at the concentrations used in the laboratory, homoaggregation and sedimentation of the aggregates are the most important processes. As for the natural environment much lower concentrations are expected, heteroaggregation will play the most important role instead. More experimental datasets are required to determine if the process parameters that were found here are generally applicable. Nonetheless it is a promising tool for modeling the transport and fate of nanoparticles in watersheds and other natural water bodies.

Predicting the contribution of nanoparticles (Zn, Ti, Ag) to the annual metal load in the Dutch reaches of the Rhine and Meuse.

Although nanoparticles are being increasingly used in consumer products, the risks they may pose to the environment and to human health remain largely unknown. One important reason for this is the lack of quantitative techniques for identifying and measuring the amount of nanomaterials in environmentally relevant circumstances. Such techniques should also discriminate between manufactured and naturally occurring nanoparticles, so that the influence of human activities can be identified. This article describes a technique for estimating nanoparticles by calculating the potential releases of nano-forms of zinc, titanium and silver, the three metals that are widely used for nano-enhanced products, and comparing them to the total loads, based on measurements of the total concentration. We use The Netherlands for our case study. Combining the scarce available data (indicative figures on the content of nanomaterials in various products and usage profiles found in an unrelated category of research) we were able to estimate the total use of such materials in The Netherlands and therefore the potential release into the environment. The calculations indicate that nanomaterials contribute a small but discernible fraction (5 to 20%) to the total loads of zinc and titanium in the Dutch reaches of the Rhine and Meuse. For silver the contribution is at most 3%. The contribution is, however, close to the minimum that can be detected, given the variability in the measured concentrations.

Assessing the discharge of pharmaceuticals along the Dutch coast of the North Sea.

This chapter assessed the annual median discharge of over 100 pharmaceuticals to the DCZ. Calculations were based on pharmaceutical concentrations in surface-, sewage-, and industrial water in the Netherlands. In 2002, riverine discharge to the DCZ for individual pharmaceuticals varied from 0 (concentration below LOD) to 27 t yr(-1). However, in 2002 the annual amount was less than 2 t for 75% of the studied pharmaceuticals. The highest loads were calculated for X-ray contrast media, that is, values of 18-27 t yr(-1) for iopromide. The top 20 pharmaceuticals discharged by rivers to the DCZ are dominated by X-ray contrast media (n = 7), followed by antibiotics (n = 6), analgesics/antipyretics/anti-inflammatory drugs (n = 2), beta blockers (n = 2), fibrates/lipid regulators (n = 1), veterinary antibiotics (n = 1), and others (n = 1). The direct discharge (sewage water and industrial water) of pharmaceuticals to the DCZ, in 2002, for individual pharmaceuticals varied from < 0.0009 to 0.27 t yr(-1) for sewage water, and from < 0.0009 to 0.33 t yr(-1) for industrial wastewater. The highest loads were calculated for sotalol (beta blocker) and diatrizoic acid (X-ray contrast medium) in sewage water and industrial wastewater, respectively. The direct discharge of pharmaceuticals to the DCZ is < 5% of that from riverine discharge. The discharge of these pharmaceuticals to the DCZ in 2002 is in the same order of magnitude as the discharge rates of the mandatory OSPAR substances Cd (8.8-10 t yr(-1)) and Hg (3.3 t yr(-1)), and are higher than the discharge rates of the mandatory substance lindane (0.041-0.055 t yr(-1)) and the recommended substance PCBs (0.217 t yr(-1)). Although some pharmaceuticals are discharged in significant amounts to the DCZ, the human and ecotoxicological risks of these highly biologically active compounds are largely unknown. To determine the environmental hazard and risk of discharged pharmaceuticals to the marine environment, future research should focus on a baseline study and a risk assessment of the discharged pharmaceuticals in the DCZ.