Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3005, United States; Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC 29808, United States.
Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-3005, United States.
NanoImpact. 2021 Apr;22:100320. doi: 10.1016/j.impact.2021.100320. Epub 2021 Apr 29.
As businesses, specifically technology developers and industrial suppliers, strive to meet growing demand for higher quality drinking water, the use of engineered nanomaterials in commercial point-of-use (POU) in-home water purification devices are becoming an increasingly important option. Anecdotally, some businesses appear wary of developing and marketing nanomaterial-enabled devices because of concerns that they will face onerous regulation and consumer pushback. However, little of substance is known about business perceptions of and attitudes toward the use of engineered nanomaterials in POU water purification devices, or how these compare with consumer perceptions. To address this knowledge-gap, we administered a 14-question survey among 65 participants from US-based industrial companies focused on drinking water purification. Our results indicate that the dominant concerns for businesses are costs and public perceptions associated with nanomaterial-enabled POU devices for drinking water purification. Cost-specific barriers include competition from more conventional technologies, and tensions between operational versus capital costs. 57% of respondents were concerned or very concerned that public perceptions will influence the long-term viability of nanomaterial-enabled POU devices for drinking water purification. 49% of respondents stated that government regulation of nanomaterials would be the preferred approach to ensure public safety, followed by the certification of POU devices (28%). When asked about specific nanomaterials and their potential use in POU devices for drinking water purification, respondents ranked carbon nanotubes as the nanomaterial with highest concern for environmental health and safety, followed by silver, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and copper. Respondents ranked nanoclays as the nanomaterial with highest likelihood for public acceptance, followed by silica, cerium oxide, titanium dioxide, and aluminum oxide.
随着企业，特别是技术开发商和工业供应商努力满足对更高质量饮用水的日益增长的需求，在商业现场使用（POU）家用饮用水净化设备中使用工程纳米材料正成为一个越来越重要的选择。有传闻称，一些企业似乎对开发和销售纳米材料驱动的设备持谨慎态度，因为担心它们将面临繁重的监管和消费者抵制。然而，对于企业对 POU 饮用水净化设备中使用工程纳米材料的看法和态度，以及这些看法与消费者的看法相比如何，我们知之甚少。为了弥补这一知识空白，我们在美国饮用水净化工业公司的 65 名参与者中进行了一项 14 个问题的调查。我们的结果表明，企业最关心的是与纳米材料驱动的 POU 饮用水净化设备相关的成本和公众看法。与成本相关的障碍包括来自更传统技术的竞争，以及运营成本与资本成本之间的紧张关系。57%的受访者担心或非常担心公众看法将影响纳米材料驱动的 POU 设备用于饮用水净化的长期可行性。49%的受访者表示，政府对纳米材料的监管将是确保公众安全的首选方法，其次是 POU 设备的认证（28%）。当被问及特定的纳米材料及其在 POU 设备中用于饮用水净化的潜在用途时，受访者将碳纳米管列为对环境健康和安全最关注的纳米材料，其次是银、二氧化钛、氧化锌和铜。受访者将纳米粘土列为公众最有可能接受的纳米材料，其次是二氧化硅、氧化铈、二氧化钛和氧化铝。
