nanoparticles and the environment

sarabande

sarabande

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There is growing use of nano-technology in the maritime services industry in relation to anti-fouling paints and other products. e.g.

http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/hemp...hip-and-professional-boat-s-21594-241924.html

(Note that the maker confirms compliance with the 2001 requirements...:))


Recent research has shown that engineered nanoparticles are able to accumulate within plants and damage their DNA. The researchers looked at nanoparticles of copper oxide, and found that they had a significant effect on growth, stunting the development of both roots and shoots of radish and ryegrasses.


http://www.nist.gov/mml/biochemical/nanoparticles-041712.cfm

As far as I can find out with a relatively short search, no work has been carried out to find the impact (if any) on the marine environment of similar nanoparticles.


Just a heads-up that I would be very grateful for any sightings or news of work on this topic please.
 
sarabande said:
As far as I can find out with a relatively short search, no work has been carried out to find the impact (if any) on the marine environment of similar nanoparticles.

Just a heads-up that I would be very grateful for any sightings or news of work on this topic please.
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It's not just engineered nano-particles that are the problem - each time a synthetic garment is washed, a few thousand micro-particles of monomer are flushed away with the dirty water - and where this enters the ocean, these particles are being absorbed by phyto-plankton and thus enter the marine food-chain - and of course their levels become ever more concentrated with predation.

A Google for "synthetic fibres pollution" should give you some useful leads.
 
electrosys said:
It's not just engineered nano-particles that are the problem - each time a synthetic garment is washed, a few thousand micro-particles of monomer are flushed away with the dirty water - and where this enters the ocean, these particles are being absorbed by phyto-plankton and thus enter the marine food-chain - and of course their levels become ever more concentrated with predation.

A Google for "synthetic fibres pollution" should give you some useful leads.
Click to expand...

Was it alright when we wore 'natural' garments?

Aren't other materials broken down into nano sized particles?
 
2Tizwoz said:
Was it alright when we wore 'natural' garments?
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Yes - natural fibres are biodegradable - another way of saying that living organisms are able to easily catabolise and digest them. Hence they don't hang around long enough to cause problems.

Aren't other materials broken down into nano sized particles?
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Sure - but the problem with micro-plastics is that they hang around for a long time, and tend to adsorb pollutants in the process, which are then ingested by micro-organisms - and thus enter the food chain ...

From Sciencenews.org :
"Andrady has shown that some microplastics are indistinguishable by size from algae and are eaten by Pacific krill, small organisms at the base of the marine food web. Plastic should not be inherently toxic to such critters, he says, “because animals and humans have no enzymes capable of digesting the plastics.” But any pollutants tainting the plastics will be available to animals and their predators.

A large surface-to-volume ratio allows microplastics to rapidly absorb toxic pollutants and to release them just as quickly to fatty substances inside an animal. This, Andrady says, coupled with their ability to be ingested by a wide range of the animal kingdom, 'explains why microplastics are so worrisome.' "
 
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