Manufactured zinc oxide nanoparticles are one of the most diverse classes of manufactured nanoparticles. The field of nanotechnology uses nanoparticles, which are essentially small molecules, for industrial applications in many fields including medicine, electronics, manufacturing, energy production, pollution control, and environmental remediation. Though the nanotechnology revolution may offer major advances, the potential negative impacts to the environment and human health are unknown and need to be studied. The importance of understanding the potential environmental impacts of manufactured nanoparticles is critical because the number of nanoparticle-based products is expected to increase dramatically over the next several decades and release of nanoparticles to the environment will be an unavoidable consequence.
"The focus of our proposal is to examine the uptake and toxicity of zinc oxide nanoparticles to microorganisms and small worms called nematodes that are commonly found in soil," said Paul Bertsch of UGA's Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and Savannah River Ecology Lab (SREL), who is the principal investigator on the interdisciplinary project.
Bertsch said, "We also want to see if nematodes feeding on pre-exposed microorganisms bioaccumulate more or less zinc oxide compared to direct exposure. This will provide an indication if food chain transfer is an important process for manufactured nanoparticles, which may begin to
'"/>
Contact: Kim Carlyle
kcarlyle@uga.edu
706-542-8083
University of Georgia
27-Oct-2005