Probabilistic modelling of prospective environmental concentrations of gold nanoparticles from medical applications as a basis for risk assessment

Abstract

BackgroundThe use of gold nanoparticles (Au-NP) based medical applications is rising due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Diagnostic devices based on Au-NP are already available in the market or are in clinical trials and Au-NP based therapeutics and theranostics (combined diagnostic and treatment modality) are in the research and development phase. Currently, no information on Au-NP consumption, material flows to and concentrations in the environment are available. Therefore, we estimated prospective maximal consumption of Au-NP from medical applications in the UK and US. We then modelled the Au-NP flows post-use and predicted their environmental concentrations. Furthermore, we assessed the environment risks of Au-NP by comparing the predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) with ecological threshold (PNEC) values.ResultsThe mean annual estimated consumption of Au-NP from medical applications is 540 kg for the UK and 2700 kg for the US. Among the modelled concentrations of Au-NP in environmental compartments, the mean annual PEC of Au-NP in sludge for both the UK and US was estimated at 124 and 145 μg kg−1, respectively. The mean PEC in surface water was estimated at 468 and 4.7 pg L−1, respectively for the UK and US. The NOEC value for the water compartment ranged from 0.12 up to 26,800 μg L−1, with most values in the range of 1000 μg L−1.ConclusionThe results using the current set of data indicate that the environmental risk from Au-NP used in nanomedicine in surface waters and from agricultural use of biosolids is minimal in the near future, especially because we have used a worst-case use assessment. More Au-NP toxicity studies are needed for the soil compartment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12951-015-0150-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Nanomaterials in the environment: Behavior, fate, bioavailability, and effects—An updated review

“…The lack of analytical capabilities for detection and quantification of NMs in real environmental systems currently also makes validation against actual environmental concentrations impossible (Nowack et al ). Input data for the mass flow analysis models must be laboriously collected (Mahapatra et al ) or must be estimated within quite wide bounds. The outputs from these models are therefore not definitive, as they are often portrayed, and should be used as a guide and with circumspection.…”

Nanomaterials in the Environment Acquire an “Eco‐Corona” Impacting their Toxicity to Daphnia Magna—a Call for Updating Toxicity Testing Policies

“…Despite this, considerably less research has focused on the implications of NMs on environmental organisms, especially under realistic conditions, than on development of their applications. NMs may enter freshwater systems from industrial effluent, where, for example, the concentrations of zinc oxide (ZnO) NMs, widely used in sunscreens and paints, in river waters has been found to be as high as 150 ng L −1 , while gold (Au) NMs excreted following use in medical applications into surface waters have been predicted to be 470 pg L −1 With deposition of NMs into environmental waters increasing, concerns regarding the potential for toxicity posed by NMs have demanded action, although the standard testing approaches have not yet been fully updated for use with NMs to take account of their enormous reactive surface areas. Thus, providing ecotoxicity results based on realistic scenarios, taking into account the natural constituents of freshwaters including biomolecules released by the test organisms themselves, and their impact on NM surface (corona) and toxicity, is still an under‐investigated area and caveats for NMs ecotoxicity assessment are detailed below.…”

Application of dissolvable Mg/Al layered double hydroxides as an adsorbent for the dispersive solid phase extraction of gold nanoparticles prior to their determination by atomic absorption spectrometry

“…The linear range obtained with ETAAS covers the concentration ranges that are predicted for nanomaterials in environmental samples based on probabilistic or material ow algorithms. 4,41 The detection limit, dened as three times the signal to noise ratio, was 19 fmol L À1 , corresponding to 4.6 ng L À1 gold ions (calculated on the basis of spherical AuNPs of an average diameter of 20 nm), which is better than or comparable to the LODs reported in previous studies. [11][12][13][14][17][18][19][20]31,42 The LOD can conceivably be improved by increasing the ratio of the sample to extractant volume (i.e.…”