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A citizen science approach estimating titanium dioxide released from personal care products.

Fan WuMatt SeibSamantha MauelSydney KlinzingAndrea L Hicks
Published in: PloS one (2020)
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a common component in personal care products (PCP), which through use enters the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and ultimately the environment. A citizen science approach is utilized here to inform the prevalence and usage of TiO2 containing PCP on a household scale, which generates information as to the quantity of TiO2 entering the WWTP, and the portion ultimately discharged to the environment. Meanwhile, citizen science sourced inventories were generated to estimate the quantity of TiO2, and potentially nanoscale TiO2 entering the WWTP from consumer products and to determine which products had the greatest contribution. The estimated values were compared with water samples from the WWTP which quantified the amount of total titanium present using ICP-AES. These values were at a similar level with other top-down estimation approaches and suggest that a citizen science approach is valid to estimate the loading of TiO2, and potentially other emerging contaminants, while at the same time engaging with community stakeholders.
Keyphrases
  • wastewater treatment
  • quantum dots
  • visible light
  • public health
  • healthcare
  • palliative care
  • mental health
  • health information
  • pain management
  • mass spectrometry
  • drinking water
  • social media
  • high resolution