Characterization of Nanoparticles in the Environment and Clinical Specimens via sp-ICPMS

Government Public Health and Private Environmental Laboratory Partnerships
Oral Presentation

Presented by D. Buckner
Prepared by L. Short, D. Buckner, G. Taylor
DC Public Health Lab, 401 E Street, N/A, N/A, N/A, Washington, United States


Contact Information: luke.short@dc.gov; 202-481-3577


ABSTRACT

In a rapidly developing world, there are new chemical synthesis processes taking place and it has become urgently important to have the ability to track, monitor, and assess their impact on the environment and humanity. One of the results of continual development is the higher production of nanoparticles. Due to the nature of nanoparticles and how little we still know, they must be accounted for in the aforementioned urgencies. Currently, we are accessing our ability to analyze and characterize nanoparticles in various matrixes such as Environment and clinical specimens. We have created a methodology to use sp-ICPMS (single particle inductively couples plasma mass spectrometry) to characterize gold nanoparticles by size and element, find the concentration of elements in the matrix, see the size distribution in matrix, and intensity of element in matrix. From here we will continue this same methodology with other elements such as for silver, titanium dioxide, lead, etc. Our future experiments will also include outreach to other organizations to gather more environmental and biological specimens and work on toxicological models for all major nanoparticles.