Assessment of Nanopollution from Commercial Products in Water Environments

Abstract

The use of nano-enabled products (NEPs) can release engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) into water resources, and the increasing commercialisation of NEPs raises the environmental exposure potential. The current study investigated the release of ENMs and their characteristics from six commercial products (sunscreens, body creams, sanitiser, and socks) containing nTiO2, nAg, and nZnO. ENMs were released in aqueous media from all investigated NEPs and were associated with ions (Ag+ and Zn2+) and coating agents (Si and Al). NEPs generally released elongated (7–9 × 66–70 nm) and angular (21–80 × 25–79 nm) nTiO2, near-spherical (12–49 nm) and angular nAg (21–76 × 29–77 nm), and angular nZnO (32–36 × 32–40 nm). NEPs released varying ENMs’ total concentrations (ca 0.4–95%) of total Ti, Ag, Ag+, Zn, and Zn2+ relative to the initial amount of ENMs added in NEPs, influenced by the nature of the product and recipient water quality. The findings confirmed the use of the examined NEPs as sources of nanopollution in water resources, and the physicochemical properties of the nanopollutants were determined. Exposure assessment data from real-life sources are highly valuable for enriching the robust environmental risk assessment of nanotechnology.