Challenges associated with performing environmental research on titanium dioxide nanoparticles in aquatic environments

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-300
Author(s):  
Huanhua Wang ◽  
Kay T Ho ◽  
Fengchang Wu ◽  
Robert M Burgess
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1191-1199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinqing Zhang ◽  
Liwen Qiang ◽  
Yuting Yuan ◽  
Wei Wu ◽  
Binbin Sun ◽  
...  

Under sunlight irradiation, titanium dioxide nanoparticles could promote the oxidative dissolution of silver nanoparticles in aquatic environments.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 734
Author(s):  
Simone Heilgeist ◽  
Ryo Sekine ◽  
Oz Sahin ◽  
Rodney A. Stewart

In recent years, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has increasingly been used as an inorganic ultraviolet (UV) filter for sun protection. However, nano-TiO2 may also pose risks to the health of humans and the environment. Thus, to adequately assess its potential adverse effects, a comprehensive understanding of the behaviour and fate of TiO2 in different environments is crucial. Advances in analytical and modelling methods continue to improve researchers’ ability to quantify and determine the state of nano-TiO2 in various environments. However, due to the complexity of environmental and nanoparticle factors and their interplay, this remains a challenging and poorly resolved feat. This paper aims to provide a focused summary of key particle and environmental characteristics that influence the behaviour and fate of sunscreen-derived TiO2 in swimming pool water and natural aquatic environments and to review the current state-of-the-art of single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) approaches to detect and characterise TiO2 nanoparticles in aqueous media. Furthermore, it critically analyses the capability of existing fate and transport models to predict environmental TiO2 levels. Four particle and environmental key factors that govern the fate and behaviour of TiO2 in aqueous environments are identified. A comparison of SP-ICP-MS studies reveals that it remains challenging to detect and characterise engineered TiO2 nanoparticles in various matrices and highlights the need for the development of new SP-ICP-MS pre-treatment and analysis approaches. This review shows that modelling studies are an essential addition to experimental studies, but they still lack in spatial and temporal resolution and mostly exclude surface transformation processes. Finally, this study identifies the use of Bayesian Network-based models as an underexplored but promising modelling tool to overcome data uncertainties and incorporates interconnected variables.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (13) ◽  
pp. 4090
Author(s):  
Morteza Sheikhalipour ◽  
Behrooz Esmaielpour ◽  
Gholamreza Gohari ◽  
Maryam Haghighi ◽  
Hessam Jafari ◽  
...  

High salt levels are one of the significant and major limiting factors on crop yield and productivity. Out of the available attempts made against high salt levels, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely employed and considered as effective strategies in this regard. Of these NPs, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) and selenium functionalized using chitosan nanoparticles (Cs–Se NPs) were applied for a quite number of plants, but their potential roles for alleviating the adverse effects of salinity on stevia remains unclear. Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) is one of the reputed medicinal plants due to their diterpenoid steviol glycosides (stevioside and rebaudioside A). For this reason, the current study was designed to investigate the potential of TiO2 NPs (0, 100 and 200 mg L−1) and Cs–Se NPs (0, 10 and 20 mg L−1) to alleviate salt stress (0, 50 and 100 mM NaCl) in stevia. The findings of the study revealed that salinity decreased the growth and photosynthetic traits but resulted in substantial cell damage through increasing H2O2 and MDA content, as well as electrolyte leakage (EL). However, the application of TiO2 NPs (100 mg L−1) and Cs–Se NPs (20 mg L−1) increased the growth, photosynthetic performance and activity of antioxidant enzymes, and decreased the contents of H2O2, MDA and EL under the saline conditions. In addition to the enhanced growth and physiological performance of the plant, the essential oil content was also increased with the treatments of TiO2 (100 mg L−1) and Cs–Se NPs (20 mg L−1). In addition, the tested NPs treatments increased the concentration of stevioside (in the non-saline condition and under salinity stress) and rebaudioside A (under the salinity conditions) in stevia plants. Overall, the current findings suggest that especially 100 mg L−1 TiO2 NPs and 20 mg L−1 Cs–Se could be considered as promising agents in combating high levels of salinity in the case of stevia.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document