Nanoparticle exposure modeling
There is a clear necessity to assess the environmental risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) due to their rapidly increasing application in consumer products, which might lead to an increasing environmental exposure. And understanding the concentration of ENMs released into different environmental compartments (water, air, soil and sediments) due to their production and application provides the elementary step towards quantitative assessment of risks of these novel materials to the environment.
However, their trace amount and insensitivity of analytic measurements for conventional compounds or pollutants very much limited the possibility of measuring their concentration on site. On the other hand, analytical measurement can't differentiate between engineered nanomaterials and naturally occurring nanomaterials. Therefore predicting environmental concentrations (PEC) by applying the Probabilistic Material Flow Model (PMFA) build the basis of a first exposure assessment for ENM.
The expousre models developed in our group have been continuously improved in the last years and have been applied in many case studies.
Current work focuses on:
- Modeling additional ENM such as iron oxides, silica and quantum dots
- Regionalization of flows
- Applying the new dynamic PMFA
Publications
Wigger, H.; Kägi, R.; Wiesner, M.; Nowack, B. (2020) Exposure and possible risks of engineered nanomaterials in the environment – current knowledge and directions for the future. Reviews of Geophysics58: e2020RG000710. pdf
Rajkovic, S.; Bornhöft, N.A.; van der Weijden, R.; Nowack, B.; Adam, V. (2020) Dynamic Probabilistic Material Flow Analysis of engineered nanomaterials in European waste treatment systems. Waste Management 113:118-131. pdf
Stoudmann, N.; Nowack, B.; Som, C. (2019) Prospective environmental risk assessment of nanocellulose for Europe. Environ. Sci. Nano 6: 2520-2531. pdf
Wigger, H.; Nowack, B. (2019) Material-specific properties applied to an environmental risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials – implications on grouping and read-across concepts. Nanotoxicology 13: 623-643. pdf
Caballero-Guzman, A.; Nowack, B. (2018) Prospective environmental flows by life cycle stage from five nano-enhanced applications containing CuO, DPP, FeOx, CNT and SiO2. J. Cleaner Production 203: 990-1002. pdf
Adam, V.; Caballero-Guzman, A.; Nowack, B. (2018) Considering the forms of released engineered nanomaterials in probabilistic material flow analysis. Environ. Pollut. 243: 17-27. pdf
Wigger, H.; Wohlleben, W.; Nowack, B. (2018) Redefining environmental nanomaterial flows: Consequences of the regulatory nanomaterial definition on the results of environmental exposure models. Environ. Sci. Nano 5: 1372-1385.pdf
Wang, Y.; Nowack, B. (2018) Dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis of nano-SiO2, nano iron oxides, nano-CeO2, nano-Al2O3, and quantum dots in seven European regions. Environ. Pollut. 235: 589-601. pdf
Adam, V.; Nowack, B. (2017) European country-specific probabilistic assessment of nanomaterial flows towards landfilling, incineration and recycling. Environ. Sci. Nano 4: 1961-1973. pdf
Nowack, B. (2017) Evaluation of environmental exposure models for engineered nanomaterials in a regulatory context. NanoImpact 8: 38-47. pdf
Sun, T. S.; Mitrano, D. M.; Bornhöft, N.A.; Scheringer, M.; Hungerbühler, K.; Nowack, B. (2017) Envisioning nano release dynamics in a changing world: using dynamic probabilistic modelling to assess future environmental emissions of engineered nanoparticles. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51: 2854-2863. pdf
Wang, Y.; Deng, L.; Caballero Guzman, A.; Nowack, B. (2016) Are nano iron oxide particles safe? An environmental risk assessment by probabilistic exposure, effect and risk modelling. Nanotoxicology 10:1545-1554. pdf
Sun, T. Y.; Bornhöft, N.; Hungerbühler, K.; Nowack, B. (2016) Dynamic Probabilistic Modelling of Environmental Emissions of Engineered Nanomaterials. Environ. Sci. Technol. 50: 4701-4711. pdf
Caballero-Guzman, A.; Nowack, B. (2016) A critical review of engineered nanomaterial release data: are current data useful for material flow modeling? Environ. Pollut. 213: 502-517. pdf
Wang, Y.; Kalinina, A.; Sun, T. Y., Nowack, B. (2016) Probabilistic modeling of the flows and environmental risks of nanosilica. Sci. Total Environ. 545-546: 67-76. pdf
Bornhöft, N. A.; Sun, T. Y.; Hilty, L. M.; Nowack, B. (2016) A Dynamic Probabilistic Material Flow Modeling Method. Environmental Modeling and Software 76: 69-80. pdf
Mahapatra, I.; Sun, T.Y.; Clark, J.; Dobson, P.; Hungerbuehler, K.; Owen, R.; Nowack, B.; Lead, J. (2015) Probabilistic modelling of prospective environmental concentrations of gold nanoparticles from medical applications as a basis for risk assessment. J. Nanobiotechnol. 13: 93. pdf
Hincapié, I.; Caballero-Guzman, A.; Hiltbrunner, D.; Nowack, B. (2015) Use of engineered nanomaterials in the construction industry with specific emphasis on paints and their flows in construction and demolition waste in Switzerland. Waste Management 43: 398-406. pdf
Sun, T. Y.; Conroy, G.; Donner, E.; Hungerbühler, K.; Lombi, E.; Nowack, B. (2015) Probabilistic modelling of engineered nanomaterial emissions to the environment: A spatio-temporal approach. Environ. Sci. Nano 2:340–351. pdf
Gottschalk, F.; Lassen, C.; Kjølholt, J.; Christensen, F.; Nowack, B. (2015) Modeling flows and concentrations of nine engineered nanomaterials in the Danish environment. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 12: 5581-5602. pdf
Caballero-Guzman, A.; Sun, T. Y.; Nowack, B. (2015) Flows of engineered nanomaterials through the recycling process in Switzerland. Waste Management 36: 33–43. pdf
Sun, T. Y.; Gottschalk, F.; Hungerbühler, K.; Nowack, B. (2014) Comprehensive modeling of environmental emissions of engineered nanomaterials. Environ. Pollut. 185: 69-76. pdf
Bornhöft, N. A.; Nowack, B.; Hilty, L. M. (2013) Material flow modelling for environmental exposure assessment – A critical review of four approaches using the comparative implementation of an idealized example. In: EnviroInfo 2013, Proceedings of the 27th Conference on Environmental Informatics Edited by B. Page, A.G. Fleischer, J. Göbel, V. Wohlgemuth. 379-388. pdf
Gottschalk, F.; Sun, T.Y.; Nowack, B. (2013) Environmental concentrations of engineered nanomaterials: Review of modeling and analytical studies. Environ. Pollut. 181: 287-300. pdf
Mueller, N. C.; Buha, J.; Wang, J.; Ulrich, A.; Nowack, B. (2013) Modeling the flows of engineered nanomaterials during waste handling. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts 15: 251-259. pdf
Gottschalk, F.; Ort, C.; Scholz, R.W.; Nowack, B. (2011) Engineered nanomaterials in rivers – exposure scenarios for Switzerland at high spatial and temporal resolution. Environ. Pollut. 159: 3439-3445. pdf
Gottschalk, F.; Sonderer, T.; Scholz, R. W.; Nowack, B. (2010) Possibilities and limitations of modeling environmental exposure to engineered nanomaterials by probabilistic material flow analysis. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 29: 1036–1048. pdf
Gottschalk, F.; Scholz, R. W.; Nowack, B. (2010) Probabilistic material flow modeling for assessing the environmental exposure to compounds: Methodology and an application to engineered nano-TiO2 particles. Environ. Modeling Software. 25: 320–332. pdf
Gottschalk, F. Sonderer, T.; Scholz, R. W.; Nowack, B. (2009) Modeled environmental concentrations of engineered nanomaterials (TiO2, ZnO, Ag, CNT, fullerenes) for different regions. Environ. Sci. Technol. 43: 9216-9222. pdf
Mueller, N. C.; Nowack, B. (2008) Exposure modeling of engineered nanoparticles in the environment. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42: 4447–4453. pdf
Empa
Technology & Society Laboratory
Lerchenfeldstrasse 5
CH-9014 St. Gallen
Tel.: +41 58 765 76 92
nowack@empa.ch