Tag Archives: Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Removal in Primary Prefiltration Stages of Water Treatment: Role of Coating Natural Organic Matter Source Water and Solution Chemistry

Removing titanium dioxide nanoparticles from water may not be that easy

A March 10, 2015 news item on Nanowerk highlights some research into the removal of nanoscale titanium dioxide particles from water supplies (Note: A link has been removed),

The increased use of engineered nanoparticles (ENMs) in commercial and industrial applications is raising concern over the environmental and health effects of nanoparticles released into the water supply. A timely study that analyzes the ability of typical water pretreatment methods to remove titanium dioxide, the most commonly used ENM, is published in Environmental Engineering Science (“Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Removal in Primary Prefiltration Stages of Water Treatment: Role of Coating, Natural Organic Matter, Source Water, and Solution Chemistry”). The article is available free on the Environmental Engineering Science website until April 10, 2015.

A March 10, 2015 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more details about the work (Note: A link has been removed),

Nichola Kinsinger, Ryan Honda, Valerie Keene, and Sharon Walker, University of California, Riverside, suggest that current methods of water prefiltration treatment cannot adequately remove titanium dioxide ENMs. They describe the results of scaled-down tests to evaluate the effectiveness of three traditional methods—coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation—in the article “Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Removal in Primary Prefiltration Stages of Water Treatment: Role of Coating, Natural Organic Matter, Source Water, and Solution Chemistry.”

“As nanoscience and engineering allow us to develop new exciting products, we must be ever mindful of associated consequences of these advances,” says Domenico Grasso, PhD, PE, DEE, Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Engineering Science and Provost, University of Delaware. “Professor Walker and her team have presented an excellent report raising concerns that some engineered nanomaterials may find their ways into our water supplies.”

“While further optimization of such treatment processes may allow for improved removal efficiencies, this study illustrates the challenges that we must be prepared to face with the emergence of new engineered nanomaterials,” says Sharon Walker, PhD, Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Removal in Primary Prefiltration Stages of Water Treatment: Role of Coating, Natural Organic Matter, Source Water, and Solution Chemistry by Nichola Kinsinger, Ryan Honda, Valerie Keene, and Sharon L. Walker. Environmental Engineering Science. doi:10.1089/ees.2014.0288.

This paper is freely available until April 10, 2015.

Interestingly Sharon Walker and Nichola Kinsinger recently co-authored a paper (mentioned in my March 9, 2015 post) about copper nanoparticles and water treatment which concluded this about copper nanoparticles in water supplies,

The researchers found that the copper nanoparticles, when studied outside the septic tank, impacted zebrafish embryo hatching rates at concentrations as low as 0.5 parts per million. However, when the copper nanoparticles were released into the replica septic tank, which included liquids that simulated human digested food and household wastewater, they were not bioavailable and didn’t impact hatching rates.

Taking these these two paper into account (and the many others I’ve read), there is no simple or universal answer to the question of whether or not ENPs or ENMs are going to pose environmental problems.