Episodic Surges in Titanium Dioxide Engineered Particle Concentrations in Surface Waters Following Rainfall Events
Understanding the role and potential risk of engineered particles in the environment is of growing importance. In their study, Md Nabi and coworkers set out to determine the temporal variability of titanium dioxide engineered particles in an urban river. The researchers use the icpTOF R for single particle inductively coupled plasma time of flight mass spectrometry (sp-ICP-TOFMS) which determines the elemental composition of individual particles in the water samples. The elements Ti, Fe, Al, Nb, Ce, and La (and different ratios thereof) were found to be powerful for characterizing the fingerprint of the particles. The study determines that urban runoff is a major source of engineered particles and shows that concentration variations of these particles in urban rivers are directly linked to rainfall events.