SEB Bulletin January 2007
A Small Problem: Nanoparticles in the Environment
The SEB co-oorganised a meeting 18th/19th September on nanomaterials, the first international conference on the “Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials” (http://www.setac-uk.org.uk/), which was held at the Linnean Society rooms in London. The meeting was lead by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry UK branch (SETAC-UK), and was initially planned as a small workshop. It proved to be very popular, and we closed the registration when the venue was full (80+ delegates each day). Delegates were international (USA, Canada, Europe, Australia), with audience from academia, industry and government. SETAC-UK has agreed to take the lead on this topic again next year, and to host the 2nd international meeting on nanoparticles. This will be in collaboration with other societies (Society of the Chemical Industry, Royal Society of Chemistry) and we hope the Society for Experimental Biology will also be involved. We hope to get sponsorship again, and to encourage more of the scientists doing the bench work to attend. We hope we can make this a “flag ship” annual event for SETAC and the SEB as a whole, and are planning to run the meeting again next September (dates to be announced). I would like to thank my co-organiser Richard Owen from the UK Environment Agency, and Valerie Verstappen for help run the conference desk on the day.
Richard Handy,
Animal Section Secretary
Report on Nanotechnology Meeting, 18th-19th September, London
The meeting was held in the grand surroundings of Burlington House, home to the Royal College of Art and the Royal Society of Chemistry as well as the Linnean Society where the delegates gathered. Several of the attendees remarked on what the thoughts of the great naturalists such as Linnaeus, Darwin and Wallace would have been as they looked upon the environmental and material scientists gathered for the meeting. In the courtyard stood Rodin's Gates of Hell; possibly where the more extreme think we stand with the release of nanoparticles and nanomaterials into the environment. The meeting was organised by Richard Handy (Plymouth University, SETAC UK President) and Richard Owen (Environment Agency of England and Wales) with support from NERC, DEFRA., Society of the Chemical Industry and the Society for Experimental Biology to establish the current scientific understanding on this issue. There were attendees from across Europe, Australia and the USA who came to share their findings and the meeting had a genuine sense of urgency.
The conference aimed to address analytical, toxicological, lifecycle and the technological benefits of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. Stephen Foss Hansen presented a scheme for the definition of nanomaterials and nanoparticles. Nanoparticles being those in the free state, such as iron oxide nanoparticles used in soil remediation, which are considered by the US EPA to present the largest risk compared to nanomaterials which are contained within a matrix. One of the biggest challenges is the analysis of nanoparticles. This arises because they frequently have differing surface coatings or because it is so difficult to separate them out from background as in the case of iron nanoparticles in soils. A number of techniques were discussed such as field flow fractionation with subsequent ICP-MS and thermal emission microscopy, but the analytical tool depends upon the particle being analysed and there were clearly still significant developments required before a satisfactory range of tools become available. The ecotoxicology evidence presented did not indicate severe effects from those tests undertaken thus far, two researchers presented data where nanoparticles had induced behavioural changes and the consensus seemed to be that titanium nanoparticles were the least toxic. Richard Owen presented an overview of the work in the UK and tried to identify the unknowns, he also stated that the benefits of these materials should not be ignored. An overview of the American experience was provided by Steve Lingle from the EPA where a number of projects have been commissioned and a number of reviews produced. Although research in the US appears to be ahead of Europe it is still clearly early days across the water too.
Finally Robert Landsiedel from BASF spoke of the benefits of nanomaterials, in their plastic manufacture. The addition of nanomaterials had resulted in significant savings as a consequence of better plastic extrusion from moulds; the lighter materials produced had further knock on benefits such as reduced fuel consumption when used in car manufacture. Throughout the meeting there were some energetic discussions relating to the issues raised at the conference, and there is still clearly a lot of research to be done. There are plans to hold another meeting next year and based on my experience I would recommend to the organisers that they do. It was a timely and well managed conference. Get it in your diaries.
Chris Collins,
Reader in Soil Science, Reading University