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Simulating Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Transport in Surface Water Systems Using the Water Quality Analysis Simulation
Dermont Bouchard1, Christopher Knightes1, Xiaojun Chang2
1USEPA Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory , 960 College Station Road, Athens, Georgia 30605, United States.
Environmental Science & Technology
|September 7, 2017
Summary
Environmental fate models struggle with nanomaterials. This study updated WASP to simulate multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) transport, finding MWCNTs accumulate in river sediments over time, potentially increasing ecological risks.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Nanotechnology
- Water Quality Modeling
Background:
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews new nanomaterials under TSCA.
- Existing environmental fate models are inadequate for nanomaterials due to poor understanding of their environmental behavior and limited empirical data.
- Nanomaterials' interactions with environmental surfaces are not well quantified.
Purpose of the Study:
- To update the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) for simulating nanomaterial fate and transport.
- To incorporate particle collision and attachment processes into WASP for multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) modeling.
- To assess the environmental fate and transport of MWCNTs in a river system.
Main Methods:
- Updated the WASP model by incorporating particle collision rate and particle attachment efficiency.
- Utilized heteroaggregation attachment efficiencies (αhet) from sediment attachment studies.
- Parametrized WASP for MWCNT transport simulation in Brier Creek, Georgia.
Main Results:
- Simulations indicated MWCNTs were primarily in the water column near the source.
- Downstream concentrations of MWCNTs on surfaces and in deep sediments showed a gradual increase over time and distance.
- The model successfully simulated MWCNT transport in a river environment.
Conclusions:
- Updated WASP model provides a tool for simulating nanomaterial fate and transport.
- Long-term MWCNT releases may lead to accumulation in river sediments.
- Accumulation of MWCNTs in benthic environments suggests potential for increasing ecological impacts over time.
