Environmental applications and recent innovations in single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS)

Abstract

The accumulation of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) will increase as more applications are discovered for their unique properties and characteristics. Additionally, the presence of nanomaterials in the environment becomes exacerbated as more consumer products containing nanoparticles are approved for use. Some examples of nano-enabled products include cosmetics, plastic packaging, clothing, textiles, and paints. Once exposed to natural environmental settings, a variety of transformations may occur leading to agglomeration, dissolution, or secondary particle formation. It is debated whether the toxic effects of nanoparticles stem from the particles themselves, ionic species, or formation of secondary particles. Therefore, understanding the behavior of nanoparticles in the environment, such as their permeability into biological tissues, becomes key to understanding the toxicological effects of nanoparticles. Many advancements have been made with ICP-MS to understand the behavior of nanoparticles in the environment and in biological systems, as well as analysis of nanomaterials in complex matrices. The development of single particle inductively coupled mass spectroscopy (SP-ICP-MS) has been imperative to understanding nanoparticle behavior in environmental and biological matrices. Additionally, the modification of the various sample introduction systems and mass analyzers has been constantly ongoing, which has further developed the applications and utility of SP-ICP-MS.

Keywords:

• Engineered nanomaterials
• environmental matrices
• SP-ICP-MS
• naturally occurring nanomaterials
• enzymatic digestion

Funding

The authors acknowledge the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency under Cooperative Agreement Number DBI-1266377. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or re-commendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the Environmental Protection Agency. This work has not been subjected to EPA review and no official endorsement should be inferred. The authors also acknowledge the USDA grant 2016-67021-24985 and the NSF Grants EEC-1449500, CHE-0840525 and DBI-1429708. Partial funding was provided by the NSF ERC on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (EEC-1449500). This work was also supported by Grant 2G12MD007592 from the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by the grant1000001931 from the ConTex program. J. L. Gardea-Torresdey acknowledges the Dudley family for the Endowed Research Professorship and the Academy of Applied Science/US Army Research Office, Research and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (REAP) at UTEP grant #W11NF-10-2-0076, sub-grant 13-7. J. L. Gardea-Torresdey acknowledges to the University of Texas System FY 2018 STARs Retention Award #201-1224. Dr Parsons acknowledges support provided by a Departmental Grant from the Robert A. Welch Foundation (Grant No. BX-0048). C. Valdes is grateful to CONACyT for its support (#905265) for graduate studies.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interest.