Session: Advances in Mass Spectrometry:

The risk of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) released from consumer products prompts the need for investigating their fate, transportation, transformation, and toxicity in the environment. Cerium dioxide nanoparticle (CeO₂ NP) is one type of widely used ENPs due to its unique oxidative/reductive and catalytic properties. Once the CeO₂ NPs are released into the environment, soils are likely to be their primary repository. However, due to the natural complexity of soil, the investigation of cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) in soil has remained a challenge. In this study, this challenge was overcome by applying a novel single particle-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-MS) methodology to detect CeO₂ NPs extracted from soil, utilizing tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP) aqueous solution as an extractant. This method is highly sensitive for determining CeO₂ NPs in soil, with detection limits of size and concentration of 15 nm and 194 NPs mL⁻¹, respectively. Extraction efficiency was sufficient in the tested TSPP concentration range from 1 mM to 10 mM at a soil-to-extractant ratio 1:100 (g mL⁻¹) for the extraction of CeO₂ NPs from the soil spiked with CeO₂ NPs. In addition, the aging study demonstrated that CeO₂ NPs had no discernible change during aging for a short period (one month) under the experimental condition. Overall, the developed method was capable of extracting and accurately determining CeO₂ NPs in soil matrices.

Chady Stephan

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