TY - JOUR
T1 - Toxicity assessment of inorganic nanoparticles to acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenic activity in anaerobic granular sludge
AU - Gonzalez-Estrella, Jorge
AU - Sierra-Alvarez, Reyes
AU - Field, James A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)/Sematech Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing. Gonzalez-Estrella was partly funded by CONACyT .
PY - 2013/9/5
Y1 - 2013/9/5
N2 - Release of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) to municipal wastewater from industrial and residential sources could impact biological systems in wastewater treatment plants. Methanogenic inhibition can cause failure of anaerobic waste(water) treatment. This study investigated the inhibitory effect of a wide array of inorganic NPs (Ag0, Al2O3, CeO2, Cu0, CuO, Fe0, Fe2O3, Mn2O3, SiO2, TiO2, and ZnO supplied up to 1500mgL-1) to acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenic activity of anaerobic granular sludge. Of all the NPs tested, only Cu0 and ZnO caused severe methanogenic inhibition. The 50% inhibiting concentrations determined towards acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens were 62 and 68mgL-1 for Cu0 NP; and 87 and 250mgL-1 for ZnO NP, respectively. CuO NPs also caused inhibition of acetoclastic methanogens. Cu2+ and Zn2+ salts caused similar levels of inhibition as Cu0 and ZnO NPs based on equilibrium soluble metal concentrations measured during the assays, suggesting that the toxicity was due to the release of metal ions by NP-corrosion. A commercial dispersant, Dispex, intended to increase NP stability did not affect the inhibitory impact of the NPs. The results taken as a whole suggest that Zn- and Cu-containing NPs can release metal ions that are inhibitory for methanogenesis.
AB - Release of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) to municipal wastewater from industrial and residential sources could impact biological systems in wastewater treatment plants. Methanogenic inhibition can cause failure of anaerobic waste(water) treatment. This study investigated the inhibitory effect of a wide array of inorganic NPs (Ag0, Al2O3, CeO2, Cu0, CuO, Fe0, Fe2O3, Mn2O3, SiO2, TiO2, and ZnO supplied up to 1500mgL-1) to acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogenic activity of anaerobic granular sludge. Of all the NPs tested, only Cu0 and ZnO caused severe methanogenic inhibition. The 50% inhibiting concentrations determined towards acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens were 62 and 68mgL-1 for Cu0 NP; and 87 and 250mgL-1 for ZnO NP, respectively. CuO NPs also caused inhibition of acetoclastic methanogens. Cu2+ and Zn2+ salts caused similar levels of inhibition as Cu0 and ZnO NPs based on equilibrium soluble metal concentrations measured during the assays, suggesting that the toxicity was due to the release of metal ions by NP-corrosion. A commercial dispersant, Dispex, intended to increase NP stability did not affect the inhibitory impact of the NPs. The results taken as a whole suggest that Zn- and Cu-containing NPs can release metal ions that are inhibitory for methanogenesis.
KW - Copper
KW - Engineered nanoparticles
KW - Inhibition
KW - Methanogenesis
KW - Zinc oxide
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.05.029
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.05.029
M3 - Article
C2 - 23770618
AN - SCOPUS:84879299933
SN - 0304-3894
VL - 260
SP - 278
EP - 285
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
ER -