Analytical chemistry of metallic nanoparticles in natural environments

The use of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) has exponentially increased in the past decade due to their unique physical and chemical properties at nano-scales [1]. They are added to a myriad of materials and compositions. The key question is not if NPs will enter environmental compartments but rather when. The fate and the stability of NPs in the environment play important roles in determining their environmental distributions and probably control the risk to human health through exposure. Emissions of nanomaterials (NMs) could be intentional or unintentional but occur in particulate, aggregate or embedded states. Despite environmental transformations and changes in their surrounding environment, metallic NPs (M-NPs) tend to exist as stable colloidal aggregates or dispersions. Characterizing NPs and NMs in environmental samples implies determination of their size, their chemical composition and their bulk concentrations in the matrix. Differential size filtration is the most commonly used method to isolate NPs from aqueous matrices. Micro-filtration, nano-filtration, cross-flow filtration, and ultracentrifugation are usually employed to achieve the highest degree of segregation. Chemical characterization of NPs and NMs has traditionally been done using transmission/scanning electron microscopy (TEM/SEM) followed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). However, because of their intrinsic limitations, methods have also been combined and validated [e.g., size exclusion and ion chromatography (SEC and IC) with multi-element detection (inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry and optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-MS and ICP-OES)]. This review describes the current state and the challenges of isolating, segregating and detecting M-NPs in environmental samples. A simple case study shows a common procedure for the analysis of NPs in complex aqueous matrices. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.