Methodological studies for quantifying airborne release of nano- and nano-enabled materials using a fast mobility particle sizer

Abstract The same unique properties of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) that make them desirable for new product applications may also increase their environmental health and safety (EHS) uncertainty, leading to high risk prioritization under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act and potential delays in commercial production. Quantifying the risk of these materials requires additional knowledge about the release of ENMs from the product during the material's life cycle; however, release testing processes remain one of the lesser studied sources of uncertainty for the risk assessment of ENM-enabled products. In this paper, we show development of a novel calibration method to quantify released ENMs using nano-TiO 2 and carbon nanotubes (CNT) via a fast mobility particle sizer (FMPS). We also demonstrate the real-world applicability of our method by analyzing the results of ENM release from an aluminum rod doped with nano silicon carbide (SiC) ENMs and a TiO 2 -cement composite (TCC). This analysis is the first of its kind, and provides an incremental improvement to resolve inherent uncertainty in risk assessment and EHS impacts of ENMs and other advanced materials, particularly in regard to providing some level of confidence in cases where no (or low amounts of) material is released.