The proliferation of manufactured nanomaterials implies their eventual entry and accumulation in the environment.  Because microbes are abundant in water, sediments, and soils, microbe-nanomaterial interactions are inevitable.   Generally, there are two types of consequences to such interactions: 1) nanomaterials could alter microbial populations and their biogeochemical processes, and/or 2) microbes and their processes could change nanomaterial physical states or chemical composition, thereby affecting nanomaterial transport and toxicity in the environment.  In this talk, evidence for how microbes modify manufactured nanomaterials is discussed.  Microbial modifications of manufactured nanomaterials include, but may not be limited to: increased agglomeration, disagglomeration and dispersion, accelerated dissolution, stabilization, oxidation or reduction, cap or coating degradation, and ligand binding.  Consequences of such microbial modifications are discussed, including changing nanomaterial: surface characteristics, bioavailability, toxicity, reactivity, and settling characteristics.  Evidence and consequences are derived from a synthetic survey of primary literature, and from original data presented in this talk.

Microbial modifications of manufactured nanomaterials

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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