School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State Univ., PO Box 875306, Tempe, AZ 85287-5306, USA.
J Environ Qual. 2010 Nov-Dec;39(6):1875-82. doi: 10.2134/jeq2009.0363.
Nanosilver has become one of the most widely used nanomaterials in consumer products because of its antimicrobial properties. Public concern over the potential adverse effects of nanosilver's environmental release has prompted discussion of federal regulation. In this paper, we assess several classes of consumer products for their silver content and potential to release nanosilver into water, air, or soil. Silver was quantified in a shirt, a medical mask and cloth, toothpaste, shampoo, detergent, a towel, a toy teddy bear, and two humidifiers. Silver concentrations ranged from 1.4 to 270,000 microg Ag g product(-1). Products were washed in 500 mL of tap water to assess the potential release of silver into aqueous environmental matrices (wastewater, surface water, saliva, etc.). Silver was released in quantities up to 45 microg Ag g product(-1), and size fractions were both larger and smaller than 100 nm. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the presence of nanoparticle silver in most products as well as in the wash water samples. Four products were subjected to a toxicity characterization leaching procedure to assess the release of silver in a landfill. The medical cloth released an amount of silver comparable to the toxicity characterization limit. This paper presents methodologies that can be used to quantify and characterize silver and other nanomaterials in consumer products. The quantities of silver in consumer products can in turn be used to estimate real-world human and environmental exposure levels.
纳米银因其抗菌性能而成为消费品中应用最广泛的纳米材料之一。公众对纳米银环境释放的潜在不良影响的关注促使人们讨论联邦法规的制定。在本文中，我们评估了几类消费品的银含量及其将纳米银释放到水、空气或土壤中的潜力。对一件衬衫、一个医用口罩和一块布、牙膏、洗发水、洗涤剂、一条毛巾、一个玩具泰迪熊和两个加湿器进行了银定量分析。银的浓度范围为 1.4 至 270,000μgAg/g 产品。将产品在 500ml 自来水下洗涤，以评估银潜在释放到水环境污染基质（废水、地表水、唾液等）中的情况。银的释放量高达 45μgAg/g 产品，粒径大于和小于 100nm 的都有。扫描电子显微镜证实，大多数产品以及洗涤水样品中都存在纳米颗粒银。对四种产品进行了毒性特征浸出程序，以评估在垃圾填埋场中释放的银量。医用布释放的银量与毒性特征限值相当。本文提出了可用于量化和表征消费品中银和其他纳米材料的方法。消费品中的银量反过来可用于估计实际的人类和环境暴露水平。
