Grantee Research Project Results
2011 Progress Report: Transformation and Fate of Nanomaterials During Wastewater Treatment and Incineration
EPA Grant Number: R834856Title: Transformation and Fate of Nanomaterials During Wastewater Treatment and Incineration
Investigators: Marr, Linsey C. , Pruden, Amy
Institution: Virginia Tech
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2010 through August 31, 2013
Project Period Covered by this Report: August 1, 2011 through August 31,2012
Project Amount: $599,859
RFA: Increasing Scientific Data on the Fate, Transport and Behavior of Engineered Nanomaterials in Selected Environmental and Biological Matrices (2010) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Chemical Safety for Sustainability
Objective:
Understanding how waste treatment processes may modify nanomaterials and how nanomaterials may affect waste treatment processes is critical to predicting the fate of nanomaterials in the environment. The overall objective of this research is to characterize the transformation and fate of engineered nanomaterials and byproducts during biological wastewater treatment and incineration. Specific objectives are to: (1) characterize nanomaterials before and after treatment to determine the physical and chemical transformations under biotic (wastewater treatment) or high-temperature, oxidative conditions (incineration); (2) determine the impact of nanomaterials on water chemistry and microbial community structure during typical nitrifying activated sludge treatment; (3) quantify particle and hazardous pollutant emissions from the combustion of materials containing nanomaterials; (4) assess the fate of nanomaterials in wastewater effluent and incinerator exhaust; and (5) rank nanomaterials in terms of toxicity in each of the disposal streams. This research is considering nanosilver, zero-valent iron, cerium oxide, titanium dioxide, nickel oxide, fullerenes, and carbon nanotubes.
Progress Summary:
We have obtained the following data sets: concentrations of nanosilver in the aqueous phase in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) that were dosed with nanosilver, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles of the microbial community and abundances of nitrogen oxidizing bacteria in SBRs dosed with nanosilver, and emission factors of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) produced during incineration of nanomaterial-containing waste. Preliminary results indicate that nanosilver in wastewater streams has the potential to affect the microbial community structure in biological reactors at wastewater treatment plants. The majority of nanosilver partitions to the sludge. Preliminary results also suggest that nanomaterials subject to incineration can either enhance or reduce the formation of PAHs, which are hazardous air pollutants. Nickel oxide and fullerenes appear to increase the yield of most PAHs, while nanosilver, cerium oxide, and titanium dioxide lead to increases or decreases in PAH yields, depending on the type of waste and the specific PAH.
Future Activities:
We will complete our analysis of nanosilver in SBRs, which will include profiling of antimicrobial resistance genes, analysis of the bacterial community structure, detection and characterization of silver in the sludge using electron microscopy, and detection of disinfection byproducts. We will then repeat the experiment with other types of nanomaterials. For incineration experiments, we will determine the partitioning of nanomaterials between ash, airborne particulate matter, and the gaseous phase. We are developing protocols for the Comet assay for mutagenicity and the dichlorofluorescein assay for oxidative stress potential.
Journal Articles on this Report : 8 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 8 publications | 8 publications in selected types | All 8 journal articles |
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Holder AL, Vejerano EP, Zhou X, Marr LC. Nanomaterial disposal by incineration. Environmental Science-Processes & Impacts 2013;15(9):1652-1664. |
R834856 (2011) |
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Kim B, Miller JH, Monsegue N, Levard C, Hong Y, Hull MS, Murayama M, Brown Jr. GE, Vikesland PJ, Knocke WR, Pruden A, Hochella Jr. MF. Silver sulfidation in thermophilic anaerobic digesters and effects on antibiotic resistance genes. Environmental Engineering Science 2016;33(1):1-10. |
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Ma Y, Elankumaran S, Marr LC, Vejerano EP, Pruden A. Toxicity of engineered nanomaterials and their transformation products following wastewater treatment on A549 human lung epithelial cells. Toxicology Reports 2014;1:871-876. |
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Ma Y, Metch JW, Vejerano EP, Miller IJ, Leon EC, Marr LC, Vikesland PJ, Pruden A. Microbial community response of nitrifying sequencing batch reactors to silver, zero-valent iron, titanium dioxide and cerium dioxide nanomaterials. Water Research 2015;68:87-97. |
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Ma Y, Metch JW, Yang Y, Pruden A, Zhang T. Shift in antibiotic resistance gene profiles associated with nanosilver during wastewater treatment. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 2016;92(3):fiw022 (8 pp.). |
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Vejerano EP, Holder AL, Marr LC. Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, and dibenzofurans from incineration of nanomaterials. Environmental Science & Technology 2013;47(9):4866-4874. |
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Vejerano EP, Leon EC, Holder AL, Marr LC. Characterization of particle emissions and fate of nanomaterials during incineration. Environmental Science: Nano 2014;1(2):133-143. |
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Vejerano EP, Ma Y, Holder AL, Pruden A, Elankumaran S, Marr LC. Toxicity of particulate matter from incineration of nanowaste. Environmental Science: Nano 2015;2(2):143-154. |
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Supplemental Keywords:
antibiotic resistance, microbial community, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, emissions, ultrafine particles, nanosilver, fullerenesProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.