Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Adding nanoengineered materials to brownfield soils for remediation would need to consider thex000D
environmental risks posed by these materials relative to the risks of the contaminant that is being remediated.x000D
Nano Zero-Valent Iron Particles (nZVI) have been used as a soil remediation method for more than a decade tox000D
degrade or immobilize organic and inorganic soil contaminants, halogenated organic compounds, PAHs,x000D
pesticides and heavy metals. The limitation to its broader use in Ontario, is that there is little knowledge of thex000D
environmental impact of the use of nZVI on soil ecosystems. Due to the unique properties associated withx000D
nanoparticles and the application of nZVI to soil as a means of remediation, environmental risk assessmentsx000D
must be performed. However, there is potential for persistence in the environment of any formed orx000D
transformed material, bioaccumulation, and toxicity to microbes and organisms living in the soil could result.x000D
So far, this is poorly characterized for nZVI in soils, the barrier to which is that high quality toxicity studiesx000D
must report measured rather than nominal exposure concentrations, and methods for quantifying nZVI inx000D
complex media are not well established. There are a number of microscopic and spectroscopic methods thatx000D
can detect nZVI, the bigger challenge is quantification (Shi et al., 2015). Once capacity for quantification arex000D
established, the effect on ecotoxicity of the various surfactants on commercially available forms of nZVI can bex000D
identified. The methodologies for measuring nZVI, to be applied in this study are Nuclear Magnetic Resonancex000D
(NMR), and the chemical redox probe indigo disulphonate (I2S). These will be used to measure NZVI in soilx000D
pore water, extracted from the experimental media by centrifugation. The benefit to Canada is that strategicx000D
risk assessments of nZVI toxicity to soil dwelling organisms specific to Canada have yet to be conducted. Soilx000D
organisms such as earthworms, plants, and invertebrates may be exposed to nZVI, and due to its small size,x000D
anaerobic bacteria in the soil may also be impacted significantly. Such investigation would allow Canada tox000D
adopt the lead position in this field and allow for informed decisions to be made concerning regulations