Nanomaterials in Ecosystems: Should we worry?
Dr. Emily Bernhardt
Assistant Professor of Biology at Duke University
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“But I am not afraid to consider the final question as to whether, ultimately---in the great future---we can arrange the atoms the way we want; the very atoms, all the way down! What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them?
…Up to now, we have been content to dig in the ground to find minerals.… we must always accept some atomic arrangement that nature gives us.
…What would the properties of materials be if we could really arrange the atoms the way we want them?
Physicist Richard Feynman“There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”December 1959
An engineered nanoparticle may be defined as any intentionally produced particle that has a characteristic dimension from 1 to 100 nm and has properties that are not shared by non-nanoscale particles with the same chemical composition.
What is a nanoparticle?
An engineered nanoparticle may be defined as any intentionally produced particle that has a characteristic dimension from 1 to 100 nm and has properties that are not shared by non-nanoscale particles with the same chemical composition.
What is a nanoparticle?
Geobacter sulfurreducens expressing pilli
Geobacter sulfurreducens expressing pilli
Nanoparticulate Iron oxides in Washington,
D.C. drinking water
Nanoparticulate Iron oxides in Washington,
D.C. drinking water
Cellulose nanofibrils in maize (2x2μm)
Cellulose nanofibrils in maize (2x2μm)
Nanoparticles are ubiquitous in nature
Organisms have evolved in systems full of nanomaterials…
Nanoparticles are ubiquitous in nature
An engineered nanoparticle may be defined as any intentionally produced particle that has a characteristic dimension from 1 to 100 nm and has properties that are not shared by non-nanoscale particles with the same chemical composition.
What is a nanoparticle?
An engineered nanoparticle may be defined as any intentionally produced particle that has a characteristic dimension from 1 to 100 nm and has properties that are not shared by non-nanoscale particles with the same chemical composition.
What is a nanoparticle?
Titanium dioxide Nanoparticles
Carbon Nanotubes
Quantum Dots
Manufactured Iron oxide nanoparticles
Manufactured Iron oxide nanoparticles
Carbon nanotube
“superthread”
Carbon nanotube
“superthread”ZnO nanowiresZnO nanowires
Geobacter sulfurreducens expressing pilli
Geobacter sulfurreducens expressing pilli
Nanoparticulate Iron oxides in Washington,
D.C. drinking water
Nanoparticulate Iron oxides in Washington,
D.C. drinking water
Cellulose nanofibrils in maize (2x2μm)
Cellulose nanofibrils in maize (2x2μm)
Nanomaterials are ubiquitous in nature
# of consumer products containing NPs
From the Project on Emerging Technologies
Nanomaterials, good for the environment?
Nanomaterials, good for the environment?
Nanomaterials, good for the environment?
Nanomaterials, good for the environment?
Nanomaterials, good for the environment?
How can we provide accurate
predictions of the fate and
impact of novel compounds in
natural environments?
Sondi & Sulapek-Sondi 2004
E. coli ≠ Ecosystem
How can Nanoscale materials have ecosystem scale effects?
1. Through direct effects on microbes, algae or plants
2. Through transmission & biomagnification of nanoparticles through food webs
Nanosilver effects on streamwater microbes
Work by Ben Colman
Effect of nanosilver on Lolium multiflorum
Work by Liyan Yin
Gold (Au) Nanoparticles in foodwebs
Images from Jason Unrine, Lee Newman
and Paul Bertsch (CEINT, University of Kentucky)
Control Exposed (3.5 nm Au)
New evidence for trophictransfer & bioaccumulation in tobacco hornworms
Test Tube ≠ Ecosystem
Biosolid + Agnano application to field wetland microcosms
Biosolid + Agnano application to field wetland microcosms
Prototype slantboard wetland mesocosmWith real time environmental monitoring
Q: How should nanomaterials be regulated to maximize potential while minimizing unintended consequences?
Q&A
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