# Presentation: 582147

## Environmental Implications of Emerging Technologies Program 

**Paul L. Bishop**
**Program Director**
***pbishop******@******nsf.gov***
**(703) 292-2161**

**National Science Foundation**
**Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division**

##  Program Scope

**Program provides support to develop and test the environmental effects of new technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. **
** **
**Also supports research on the development and refinement of sensors and sensor network technologies that can be used to measure a wide variety of physical, chemical, and biological properties of interest in characterizing, monitoring, and understanding environmental impacts.**** **
**This program also houses the development of the WATERS Network and related Test Beds**

##  Current Areas of Support

**Understanding and mitigating how new developments in nanotechnology and biotechnology will interact with the environment**** **
**Nanotechnology environmental, health, and safety implications and applications**** **
**Predictive methodology for the interaction of nanoparticles with the environment and with the human body, including predictive approaches for toxicity**** **
**Fate and transport of natural, engineered, and incidental (by-product) nanoparticles**** **
**Risk assessment and management of the effect of nanomaterials in the environment**** **
**Sensor and sensor network technologies as they relate to the measurement of environmental implications **

##  Selected Current Awards

**C60 biotransformation and bioaccumulation: environmental impact implications**
**Carbon nanotubes in soils: transport, filtration and impact on soil microbial community**
**Fate of nanoparticles in urban atmosphere**
**Multiplex detection of heavy metal ions by quantum dots based biosensor**
**Antibiotic resistance genes as emerging pollutants in our waters: pathways, mitigation, treatment **
**Nitrification inhibition by silver nanoparticles**
**CAREER: Understanding carbon nanoassembly in biological and environmental systems; SGER: carbon nanomaterial translocation and transfer**

##  C60 Biotransformation and Bioaccumulation:  Environmental Impact Implications

**Degree of Polar Derivatization**

**Estimated Organic Phase Partitioning Coefficient**

**Molecular Aqueous Availability**

**Biological Response**

** ****C****60**** Biotransformation and Bioaccumulation: **** ****Environmental**** Impact Implications**

**Objective:****  ****Evaluate the **
**susceptibility of fullerene species**
**to biochemical transformations **
**and their biological significance.**
**Approach:****  ****Use ****14****C****60**** to study **
**biotransformations; determine **
**how biotransformation affects C****60**** toxicity; quantify bioavailability **
**and bioaccumulation of C60 in earthworms**
**Impact:****  ****Microbial-mediated**
**transformations of fullerenes could significantly influence their mobility, bioavailability, reactivity, toxicity and overall environmental impact.**

***Pedro Alverez  -  Rice University***

##   Carbon Nanotubes in Soils: Transport, Filtration  and Impact on Soil Microbial Community

**Number of stress genes induced or repressed more than 2-fold for cells exposed to SWNTs and MWNTs compared to Control without CNTs**

**Objective:**  **Assess the extent of transport and retention of CNTs in soils and the impact of retained CNTs on the soil microbial community.**
**Approach:**  **Transport experiments in packed columns will be carried out to quantify the transport and filtration behavior of CNTs in soils and model sand; retained CNTs will be enumerated; filtration/deposition rate of SWNTs and the associated filtration mechanisms will be evaluated; and effects of soil perturbations on mobilization of retained CNTs will **
**be evaluated. Application of real-time PCR and the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis will be used to quantify and verify the changes of microbial population in environmental samples. **

***Menachem Elimelech  -  Yale University***

##  Fate of Nanoparticles in Urban Atmosphere

**Objective:**  **Explore whether ozone, present in concentrations as low as**
**Those found in the clean to slightly polluted atmosphere, can chemically**
**react with nanocarbons: single-walled and multi-walled carbon**
**nanotubes, and fullerenes.**
**Approach:**  **Measured quantities of nanocarbons will be exposed to**
**laboratory-generated ozone in an experimental chamber in the**
**Concentrations of 10s to 100s ppb.  Samples of nanocarbons will be**
**exposed to a steady flow of ozone containing air streams for periods **
**of up to two to three months.  The samples’ surface chemistry and **
**the structure of the nanotubes and their chemical properties will be**
**analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray Photospectroscopy before**
**and after long-term exposure to diluted-concentrations of ozone. **
**Impact:**  **This study will help to determine the fate of nanocarbons after**
**Being released into the air.  It will reveal if the atmosphere is capable of**
**Partially Oxidizing these nanomaterials or degrading them completely**
**into common, less Harmful pollutants, such as CO and CO****2****.**

***  ******Sandeep Agnihotri  -  University of Tennessee***

##  A Simple Strategy for Quantum Dot Assisted  Selective Detection of Cadmium Ions

****** ****Qdots were synthesized using ****AOT/heptane/water water-in-oil micro-emulsion**
****** ****Cd****2+**** ion selective MCCL (i.e.  1,10-diaza-18-crown-6) were directly attached to **
**   ****the Qdot surface via zero-length covalent coupling using CS****2**
****** ****MCCL quenched Qdot luminescence via electron transfer process**
****** ****MCCL to Qdot electron transfer process is reversible **

** ****A Simple Strategy for Quantum Dot Assisted **** ****Selective Detection of Cadmium Ions**

**Scheme showing synthesis of Cd ion selective ligand conjugated Qdots**

** ****Swadeshmukul Santra - University of Central Florida**

##  CAREER: Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARG) as Emerging Pollutants in Our Water:  Pathways, Mitigation, and Treatment

**PI Amy Pruden sampling water at a stream site where she is studying changes in microbial community during passive in-situ treatment.  **
**Her research is evaluating antibiotic resistance genes as emerging contaminants. **

**Amy J. Pruden - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University**

##  Nitrification Inhibition by Silver Nanoparticles

**PI Hu is studying the inhibitory effects of silver nanoparticles on biological nitrification.  **
**Silver nanoparticles can originate from many sources and can inhibit nitrification.  **

** ****Zhiqiang Hu  -  University of Missouri-Columbia**

##  CAREER: Understanding Carbon Nanoassembly  in Biological and Environmental Systems;  SGER: Carbon Nanomaterial Translocation & Transfer

**PI Ke is studying the uptake, translocation and transmission of **
**carbon nanomaterials in plants.  **
**This image, resembling a guitar finger board, displays the uptake of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (bright agglomerates) by the vascular system (tubular structure) of a rice plant.  **
**It shows first-hand evidence of nanomaterials discharged into the food chain and illustrates the potential impact of nanotechnology on human health.  **

**Pu-Chun Ke  - Clemson University-Columbia**

##  WATer and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network

**Goal:**** **
**	****Establish a network of observatories that can be continually upgraded to more reliably predict for water quantity and quality management**** **
**Overarching Question:**** **
**	****How do we better predict and manage the behavior of water and its nutrients, contaminants, and sediments in the U.S.?**
**Reducing the uncertainty in these predictions is the goal**
**Research Themes:**
**What to Predict**
**Scaling and Transferability**
**Behavior of Coupled Human-Natural Systems**
**Innovative Technologies and Experimental Facilities**

##  WATERS Network - Innovative Technologies and Experimental Facilities

**Drawing by Jason Fisher**
**UC Merced/WN/CENS-UCLA**

** ****WATERS Network - Innovative Technologies**** ****and Experimental Facilities**

**Fixed or mobile pilot water/wastewater treatment facilities**
**Instrumented drainage basins**
**Experimental streams**
**     ****& watershed facilities**
**Incorporate new sensor technology**
**Cyberinfrastructure**
**Manage the input  **
**     ****data & data products**
**Run coupled models and analyze ensembles**