Abstract
The paper investigates the Ag release from textiles (socks available in shops, cotton and viscose filled with Ag nanoparticles–AgNPs) into a washing solution under different conditions. The released Ag amount depended on various factors, such as test media (chemical composition, temperature and water volume), metal contents, and textile impregnation conditions. Furthermore, it turned out that the textile type and colour were the main parameters affecting the Ag release. The Ag concentration in the washing solution ranged between 0.015 μg/l and 4.44 μg/l (socks) and between 0.61 μg/l and 103 μg/l (AgNPs–filled cotton). The total Ag percentage released into water during one washing varied considerably among textiles (from less than 1 to 34%). In the tap water presence, the released Ag load decreased from 6.82 to 1.35 μg/l due to the AgCl and/or Ag2CO3 precipitation. The bleaching process had a strong effect on the quality and speciation of Ag rleased during the washing process. For example, the Ag concentration in the washing solution changed from 0.8 μg/l to 12.9 μg/l and was higher by 20 times (white socks) to 170 times (black socks) when compared with washing in water without any oxidising agent. The washing of nano–Ag–treated textiles may have potentially released both ionic and particle forms as smaller AgNPs dissolved more rapidly than large AgNPs. The results of the present study demonstrate that the water solution containing Ag revealed a toxic effect on D. magna and V. fischeri. Among the tested species, D. magna was the most sensitive and revealed acute toxicity for low EC50 values. The V. fischeri response was less sensitive due to the physiological state of the bacteria.
Highlights
Due to the rapid nanotechnology progress and the expanding nanomaterial range having been produced and developed since the beginning of the 21st century, it is essential to take the potential nanomaterial impacts on humans and environment into consideration
Having the above–mentioned aspects in mind, the aim of this paper was to quantify the Ag release from commercially available socks containing Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs), and from cotton and viscose textiles filled with AgNPs under different conditions
Regardless of the fact whether the Ag content was declared on the label or not, large Ag amounts were found in the investigated socks
Summary
Due to the rapid nanotechnology progress and the expanding nanomaterial range (nanometals, nanometal oxides) having been produced and developed since the beginning of the 21st century, it is essential to take the potential nanomaterial impacts on humans and environment into consideration. Nanoparticles are clusters of atoms in the size range of 1–100 nm in at least one dimension. The metallic nanoparticles (Ag, Au, Cu and Zn) are the most promising agents. They demonstrate unique and considerably changed physical, chemical and biological properties when compared to their macroscale counterparts and dissolved salts. Such a situation is related to the fact that nanoparticles demonstrate high surface–to– volume ratio. Characteristic colour of noble metals in colloidal form (yellow for silver and red for gold) when compared with the colourless Ag ionic form has been used in the artistic glass dyeing since the 19th century, when the “nano” nomenclature was not known yet
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