Emerging contaminant or an old toxin in disguise? Silver nanoparticle impacts on ecosystems.
Abstract
The use of antimicrobial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in consumer-products is rising.
Much of these AgNPs are expected to enter the wastewater stream, with up to 10% of
that eventually released as effluent into aquatic ecosystems with unknown ecological
consequences. We examined AgNP impacts on aquatic ecosystems by comparing the effects
of two AgNP sizes (12 and 49 nm) to ionic silver (Ag(+); added as AgNO3), a historically
problematic contaminant with known impacts. Using 19 wetland mesocosms, we added Ag
to the 360 L aquatic compartment to reach 2.5 mg Ag L(-1). Silver treatments and two
coating controls were done in triplicate, and compared to four replicate controls.
All three silver treatments were toxic to aquatic plants, leading to a significant
release of dissolved organic carbon and chloride following exposure. Simultaneously,
dissolved methane concentrations increased forty-fold relative to controls in all
three Ag treatments. Despite dramatic toxicity differences observed in lab studies
for these three forms of Ag, our results show surprising convergence in the direction,
magnitude, and duration of ecosystem-scale impacts for all Ag treatments. Our results
suggest that all forms of Ag changed solute chemistry driving transformations of Ag
which then altered Ag impacts.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/15708Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1021/es405454vPublication Info
Colman, Benjamin P; Espinasse, Benjamin; Richardson, Curtis J; Matson, Cole W; Lowry,
Gregory V; Hunt, Dana E; ... Bernhardt, Emily S (2014). Emerging contaminant or an old toxin in disguise? Silver nanoparticle impacts on ecosystems.
Environ Sci Technol, 48(9). pp. 5229-5236. 10.1021/es405454v. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/15708.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Emily S. Bernhardt
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor
Emily Bernhardt is an ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist whose research is principally
concerned with tracking the movement of elements through ecological systems. Dr. Bernhardt's
research aims to document the extent to which the structure and function of aquatic
ecosystems is being altered by land use change (urbanization, agriculture, mining)
global change (rising CO2, rising sea levels) and chemical pollution. Ultimately this
information is necessary to determine whether and how
Dana E. Hunt
Associate Professor of Microbial Ecology
My research focus is on understanding the ecology of microbes through examination
of their genes and lifestyles. Bacteria are the most diverse organisms on earth and
play a pivotal role in planetary cycling of nutrients and energy. Yet, we have a
poor understanding of the factors that drive their diversity and dynamics in the environment.
The lab's emphasis is on studying bacterial interactions with the environment at the
appropriate temporal and spatial scale including the effect of temperat
Curtis J. Richardson
John O. Blackburn Distinguished Professor
Curtis J. Richardson is Professor of Resource Ecology and founding Director of the
Duke University Wetland Center in the Nicholas School of the Environment. Dr. Richardson
earned his degrees from the State University of New York and the University of Tennessee.
His research interests in applied ecology focus on long-term ecosystem response to
large-scale perturbations such as climate change, toxic materials, trace metals, flooding,
or nutrient additions. He has specific interests in phosphor
Mark Wiesner
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Wiesner's research interests include membrane processes, nanostructured materials,
transport and fate of nanomaterials in the environment, colloidal and interfacial
processes, and environmental systems analysis.
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