Andrea L. Hicks

Environmental impacts of reusable nanoscale silver-coated hospital gowns compared to single-use, disposable gowns

Nanoscale silver has been incorporated into a variety of products where its antimicrobial properties enhance their functionality. One particular application is hospital linens, potential vectors of disease transmission. There is an on-going debate as to whether it is more beneficial to use disposable versus reusable hospital gowns in efforts to prevent nosocomial infections. This work models the life cycle impacts of nanoscale silver (nAg)-enabled, reusable hospital gowns from a life cycle assessment perspective and then compares the midpoint environmental impact data to the use of disposable hospital gowns. A key finding of this work is the environmental parity (when the environmental impact of nAg and disposable gowns are equal) of a nAg-enabled gown is 12 wearings. These results suggest that nAg textiles may be key in reducing the environmental impact of hospitals, while still preventing infection.

Using multi criteria decision analysis to evaluate nanotechnology: nAg enabled textiles as a case study

Nanosilver enabled textiles represent an advancement in clothing technology, due to their antimicrobial nature. At the same time, the silver that bestows the antimicrobial efficacy of the textile increases its environmental impact. A midpoint life cycle assessment is coupled with antimicrobial efficacy data to inform a multi criteria decision analysis to weigh the benefits and costs (risks) of nanoenabled textiles compared to conventional textiles. Multiple weighting scenarios are applied to include the role of consumer attitude with respect to the relative value and risk of nanoenabled technologies. The results explore the tradeoff between antimicrobial efficacy and environmental cost, and indicate that this tool is relevant to evaluating the utility of nanoenabled products.

Life cycle impact of nanosilver polymer-food storage containers as a case study informed by literature review

Four hundred tons of silver nanoparticles are produced annually on a global scale. More than 25% of the consumer products that contain nanomaterials claim to have nano-scale silver (nAg), making it common in nanoenabled products, with food storage containers as one application. The antimicrobial property of nAg in these products helps to prolong the freshness of the stored food, thus potentially reducing food waste. Studies have found the migration of nAg from polymer nanocomposite food storage containers into the stored food to occur, which represents a concern to both the environment and public health. In this work, a midpoint life cycle assessment (LCA) is utilized in a cradle to grave capacity to compare the environmental and human health impacts of nAg enabled polymer food storage containers (at two different nAg concentrations) with their conventional counterpart. The electricity usage during the washing phase of a single nAg container represents the highest impact in almost all the ten categories due to the associated fossil fuel usage, while the impact related to the nAg leaching from this phase is insignificant in any scenario. This study demonstrates an increase in the overall environmental impact related to the integration of nAg on food storage containers compared to conventional food storage containers, however it was found to be very small (less than 1.6% of the total environmental impact). This work suggests that the environmental impact of nAg enabling food storage containers is fairly small, which may have implications for future food storage applications.

Environmental impact, life cycle analysis and battery performance of upcycled carbon anodes

For rechargeable lithium ion batteries, natural and synthetic graphite anodes come with great economic and environmental costs. Carbon microsheets, developed from used starch packing peanuts, are a carbonaceous alternative with great electrochemical performance and quantifiable environmental footprint. This work investigates how synthesis route (e.g., ambient inert gas or vacuum) influences microsheet electrochemistry and environmental impact. Carbon microsheets show gravimetric capacity greater than conventional graphite, with argon-derived microsheets demonstrating gravimetric capacity up to ca. 30% greater than vacuum-derived ones. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to examine the environmental impact of synthesis routes across standard midpoint TRACI categories (viz., ozone depletion, global warming, smog, acidification, eutrophication, carcinogenics, non-carcinogenics, respiratory effects, eco-toxicity, and fossil fuel depletion). Midpoint LCA illustrates that the impact of the vacuum process is sensitive to the origin of utilized energy. For instance, with respect to ozone depletion, vacuum pyrolysis produces less emission equivalents than its argon analog – assuming conventional domestic energy profile. In this sense, the context of energy should be considered alongside environmental impact in evaluation of process sustainability.

A guide for using social media in environmental science and a case study by the Students of SETAC

BackgroundIn the past few years, the use of social media has gradually become an important part of our daily lives. While some might see this as a threat to our productivity or as a source of procrastination, social media as a whole have unquestionably changed the way in which information and knowledge disseminate in our society.Social media guideThis article is meant to serve as a guide for scientists who would like to establish their online presence and includes an outline of the benefits of using social media as well as strategies for establishing and improving your presence in social media. Environmental scientists in particular can benefit enormously from this approach, since this field of science deals with topics that directly impact our daily lives.Case studyTo highlight these approaches for our fellow scientists in the field of environmental science and toxicology and in order to better engage with our own peers, we describe the outreach methods used by the student advisory councils of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and how we have worked towards an improved social media presence. In this article we present our initiatives to increase social media usage and engagement within SETAC. This includes joint social media accounts organized by the SETAC student advisory councils from various SETAC geographical units. We also led a course on social media usage at the SETAC Nashville meeting in 2013 and are currently developing other outreach platforms, including high school student-oriented science education blogs.ConclusionThe Students of SETAC will continue to increase communication with and among SETAC students on a global level and promote the use of social media to communicate science to a wide variety of audiences.

Chapter 5 – Environmental assessment of medical nanotechnologies

Abstract Silver has been utilized since antiquity for its antimicrobial properties. These same properties are present in nanoscale silver (nAg), and are currently utilized in consumer, and more importantly medical products. While the goal of these products is to reduce transmission of infection by pathogens, there is an environmental cost to adding nAg to these products, which is explored in this work. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic tool for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product or process throughout its lifetime. This work reviews the current LCA literature with respect to nAg synthesis and nAg-enabled medical products, and provides insight as to the current state of research and considerations for designing and evaluating these products in the future. Additionally, the case is made that to truly understand the environmental impact of these products that they must be evaluated in comparison with their conventional counterparts, which may be comprised of more than one product.

Nanosilver‐Enabled Food Storage Container Tradeoffs: Environmental Impacts Versus Food Savings Benefit, Informed by Literature

Globally, thousands of tons of food are lost each year due to spoilage and degraded quality. This loss is a current critical issue that must be addressed to ensure adequate food supply for the growing world population; the use of technology and regulatory practices are avenues to a solution. One considered approach is the reduction of the microorganism population on the surface of food products to delay spoilage through the use of antimicrobials. One current method is the use of the antimicrobial properties of nanoscale silver (nAg) particles to prolong the freshness of stored food by reducing the bacteria present. Nanoscale silver-enabled food storage containers present a potential solution to the food loss problem; nevertheless, their environmental and human health effects have been questioned by the scientific community. Literature is used to generate data for the life cycle impact assessment of these types of products and their corresponding environmental effects. The benefits of nAg-enabled food storage containers are considered with respect to their potential to extend the shelf life of stored food and prevent food spoilage. The results illustrate that the environmental effects of nano-enabling food storage containers with silver is small (when the initial silver concentration is relatively low, less than 1% by mass) compared with the overall environmental effects of food storage containers and also relatively small compared with the environmental effects of producing the stored food. This finding suggests that the added environmental burden of nano-enabling food storage containers may be small when compared with the environmental burden of food losses. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:769-776.