Nanoparticle pollution: developing a detailed evidence base for an emerging environmental and human health issue in urban centres

Nanoparticles released into urban environments are potentially harmful to natural ecosystems and human health. However, nanoparticle origins and fluxes are poorly understood. This project will identify and characterize chemically nanoparticles in different urban environmental samples, across different spatial and temporal scales, to inform the significance of these emerging environmental pollutants.

Aims and objectives

Nanoparticles are between 1 and 100 nanometres in size (10-9 to 10-7 metres). Nanoparticles can have natural origins, but are increasingly engineered (manufactured) with myriad applications. Common engineered nanoparticles include fullerenes (carbon atom spheres) and carbon nanotubes (e.g., polymer composites and electronic components), ceria (CeO2; e.g., electronics, biomedical supplies and fuel additives), titania (TiO2; e.g. sunscreens, cosmetics, and paints and coatings) and nano-silver (Ag; an anti-bacterial agent, incorporated into textiles and food packaging). Such diverse uses of engineered nanoparticles inevitably results in their release into the natural environment. Incidental nanoparticle release also can arise through human activity, including from vehicular diesel exhausts and by tyre wear on road surfaces.
The occurrence, potentially even pervasiveness, of engineered and incidental nanoparticle release into the natural environment is not well established, but nanoparticles present possible hazards to both the environment and to human health, both nationally and internationally, with clear societal impacts. The very small size of nanoparticles results in them passing through cell membranes within organisms, with potentially significant implications for natural ecosystem and human health. For example, one recent high profile study, that attracted significant UK media attention, identified magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles within human brain tissue (Maher et al., 2016). These magnetite nanospheres were a separate population to endogenous brain euhedral magnetite, exactly matching nanospheres produced by combustion and/or frictional heating within the internal combustion engine, as found in urban airborne particulate matter. It is assumed that the small-sized magnetite nanospheres passed directly into the brain tissue via the olfactory nerve, with potential links to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Documenting the occurrence and identifying the different chemical characteristics of nanoparticles released into the natural environment, with a specific focus on urban centres, thus is the focus of this PhD project. Ongoing urbanization across the planet is resulting in increasing numbers of inhabitants living/working within urban centres, where engineered and incidental nanoparticle release into the environment is concentrated and expected to increase. Baalousha et al. (2016) identify a critical and urgent need for more detailed investigation of nanoparticles released within urban environmental settings.
The specific objectives of this PhD project are:
1. To identify and quantify the occurrence of nanoparticles within different environmental sample matrices within the City of Manchester, including airborne particulates, road-deposited sediment, soils, and urban river water and sediments.
2. To collect these samples across different spatial and temporal scales, to investigate the variability of nanoparticle release within Manchester.
3. To characterise chemically the identified nanoparticles using existing MMU instrumentation (including ICP-MS and Analytical SEM) and a UK national facility, as described below.
The PhD student and project will benefit greatly from an agreed external co-supervision by Prof Eugenia Valsami-Jones, Director of the NERC-funded Facility for Environmental Nanoscience Analysis and Characterisation (FENAC), hosted by the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Birmingham. FENAC is extremely well equipped for physio-chemical characterisation of nanoparticles, providing a national capability to support UK environmental nanoscience and nanotoxicology research. The FENAC laboratories include some separation and characterisation techniques that are not available at MMU, specifically Flow Field-Flow Fractionation and Split-Flow Thin Cell Fractionation (FIFFF and SPLITT, both for separation of nanoparticles in complex samples), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS, nanoparticle size distribution) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Given the geographical proximity of Manchester to Birmingham FENAC is easily accessible by an MMU PhD student.

The supervisory team for this project will be Dr Leon Clarke and Dr Sanja Potgieter

The closing date for applications is 31st January 2017.
To apply, please use the form on our web page: http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/postgraduate-research-course/ - please note, CVs alone will not be accepted.

For informal enquiries, please contact: [Email Address Removed]
Please quote the Project Reference in all correspondence.