Abstract
One of the key shortcomings in the field of nanotechnology risk assessment is the lack of techniques capable of source tracing of nanoparticles (NPs). Silica is the most-produced engineered nanomaterial and also widely present in the natural environment in diverse forms. Here we show that inherent isotopic fingerprints offer a feasible approach to distinguish the sources of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs). We find that engineered SiO2 NPs have distinct Si–O two-dimensional (2D) isotopic fingerprints from naturally occurring SiO2 NPs, due probably to the Si and O isotope fractionation and use of isotopically different materials during the manufacturing process of engineered SiO2 NPs. A machine learning model is developed to classify the engineered and natural SiO2 NPs with a discrimination accuracy of 93.3%. Furthermore, the Si–O isotopic fingerprints are even able to partly identify the synthetic methods and manufacturers of engineered SiO2 NPs.
Highlights
One of the key shortcomings in the field of nanotechnology risk assessment is the lack of techniques capable of source tracing of nanoparticles (NPs)
Our results have revealed the possibility of isotopic fingerprints in source tracing of NPs, which breaks through the previous knowledge on stable isotopic tracing of NPs11,12
It should be stressed that this technique is based on the inherent isotopic fingerprints of NPs and should be suitable for application in complex systems
Summary
One of the key shortcomings in the field of nanotechnology risk assessment is the lack of techniques capable of source tracing of nanoparticles (NPs). Silica is the most-produced engineered nanomaterial and widely present in the natural environment in diverse forms. We show that inherent isotopic fingerprints offer a feasible approach to distinguish the sources of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs). The Si–O isotopic fingerprints are even able to partly identify the synthetic methods and manufacturers of engineered SiO2 NPs. 1234567890():,; Nanoparticles (NPs) in the environment can occur naturally or originate from engineered nanomaterials released by human activities. Silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are the most produced engineered nanomaterials (global production volume 185–1400 kilotons in 201413,14) and extensively used in construction materials, microelectronics, food and pharmaceutical industries, and consumer products[15]. The ultrahigh background and the great diversity in silica family make it an extremely difficult task to distinguish the sources of SiO2 NPs in the environment[19]
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