Industrial production quantities and uses of ten engineered nanomaterials in Europe and the world

Not much is known so far about the amounts of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) that are produced but this information is crucial for environmental exposure assessment. This paper provides worldwide and Europe-wide estimates for the production and use of ten different ENM (TiO2, ZnO, FeO x , AlO x , SiO2, CeO2, Ag, quantum dots, CNT, and fullerenes) based on a survey sent to companies producing and using ENM. The companies were asked about their estimate of the worldwide or regional market and not about their company-specific production, information that they would be less likely to communicate. The study focused on the actual production quantities and not the production capacities. The survey also addressed information on distribution of the produced ENM to different product categories. The results reveal that some ENM are produced in Europe in small amounts (less than 10t/year for Ag, QDs and fullerenes). The most produced ENM is TiO2 with up to 10,000t of worldwide production. CeO2, FeO x , AlO x , ZnO, and CNT are produced between 100 and 1000t/year. The data for SiO2 cover the whole range from less than 10 to more than 10,000t/year, which is indicative of problems related to the definition of this material (is pyrogenic silica considered an ENM or not?). For seven ENM we have obtained the first estimates for their distribution to different product categories, information that also forms the base for life-cycle based exposure analysi

The release of engineered nanomaterials to the environment

There is scientific agreement that engineered nanomaterial (ENM) production, use and disposal lead to environmental release of ENM. However, very little is known on emissions of ENM to the environment. Currently, techniques are lacking to quantitatively monitor ENM emissions to and concentrations in the environment, and hence data on emissions and environmental concentrations are scarce. One of the few available studies reports the detection of nano-TiO 2 in water leaching from exterior facades. Some experimental evidence is available on the release of nanosized materials from commercial textiles during washing. A handful of modeling studies have investigated ENM release to the environment. These studies modeled either the release of ENMs to the environment from ENM containing products during the consumer usage, or the release throughout the whole life cycle of ENM and ENM-containing products. Sewage sludge, wastewater, and waste incineration of products containing ENM were shown to be the major flows through which ENMs end up in the environment. However, reliable data are particularly lacking on release during ENM production and on the application amounts and empirical information on release coefficients for all life cycle stages and environmental compartments. Quantitative data linking occupational exposure measurements and ENM emission flows into the environment are almost completely missing. Besides knowing the amounts of ENM released into the environment, it is equally important to investigate in what form ENMs are released. First results show that much of the ENM released from products is present in matrix-bound form, but that also some fraction is released as single, dispersed nanoparticles