18
A. A. Inyinbor et al.
of mercury amongst ages and categories. The prominent impact of mercury in pregnancy may result in underweight babies as well as lethargic growth and development
in children [35]. The major ways of mercury removal are adsorption of Hg (II) and
reduction of Hg (II) to Hg (0) which subsequently volatilizes into the air [36].
3 New Anthropogenic Water Pollutants: Focus
on Nanoparticles and Nanoplastics
Water is an essential component of human life. All metabolisms in human and aquatic
organisms are water dependent. Among the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG),
access to clean and safe water has been signposted as sine qua non. However, one of
the main sources of water pollution leading to a barrier to accessibility and availability
of safe water has been accredited to several unregulated and unguided anthropogenic
activities [37]. This section seeks to explore the new anthropogenic water pollutants
majoring in nanoparticles and nanoplastics.
3.1 Nanotechnology and Nanoparticles
Nanotechnology derived its origin from different Science and Engineering fields
where new materials are structured by molecular alteration [38, 39]. Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials structured with a size range of 1–100 nm, possessing at
least one dimension within that size. The two main approaches involved in the
synthesis of several categories of NPs are ‘Top-down and Bottom-up’. The bottom-up
approach is applied by building materials by the principle of molecular recognition,
while top-down is a destructive approach that involves breaking down larger entities into the micro size and later to nanosize [40–42]. A major advantage of NPs
among other materials lies on their sizes. Based on morphology, physical and chemical properties, NPs are broadly classified into natural and synthetic forms. The
natural NPs exist in the natural environment, including water bodies. They have their
sources from (i) humic substances, biomolecules, and viruses (ii) volcanic ash, metal
oxides/hydroxides, and clay minerals and (iii) microbial activities. On the other hand,
the synthetic NPs are the product of different anthropogenic activities and they are
broadly classified into ‘Incidental and Engineered NPs’. Incidental NPs are accidentally released by various indirect anthropogenic activities, such as combustion and
corrosion processes, automobile exhaust, industrial and mining wastes [43]. Engineered NPs originate from different anthropogenic activities intentionally tailored
towards large production of materials, such as cosmetics, computer chips and accessories, solar cells and home appliances. Based on their precursors, they are further
categorized into six classes as follows and shown in Fig. 2.
A. A. Inyinbor et al.
of mercury amongst ages and categories. The prominent impact of mercury in pregnancy may result in underweight babies as well as lethargic growth and development
in children [35]. The major ways of mercury removal are adsorption of Hg (II) and
reduction of Hg (II) to Hg (0) which subsequently volatilizes into the air [36].
3 New Anthropogenic Water Pollutants: Focus
on Nanoparticles and Nanoplastics
Water is an essential component of human life. All metabolisms in human and aquatic
organisms are water dependent. Among the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG),
access to clean and safe water has been signposted as sine qua non. However, one of
the main sources of water pollution leading to a barrier to accessibility and availability
of safe water has been accredited to several unregulated and unguided anthropogenic
activities [37]. This section seeks to explore the new anthropogenic water pollutants
majoring in nanoparticles and nanoplastics.
3.1 Nanotechnology and Nanoparticles
Nanotechnology derived its origin from different Science and Engineering fields
where new materials are structured by molecular alteration [38, 39]. Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials structured with a size range of 1–100 nm, possessing at
least one dimension within that size. The two main approaches involved in the
synthesis of several categories of NPs are ‘Top-down and Bottom-up’. The bottom-up
approach is applied by building materials by the principle of molecular recognition,
while top-down is a destructive approach that involves breaking down larger entities into the micro size and later to nanosize [40–42]. A major advantage of NPs
among other materials lies on their sizes. Based on morphology, physical and chemical properties, NPs are broadly classified into natural and synthetic forms. The
natural NPs exist in the natural environment, including water bodies. They have their
sources from (i) humic substances, biomolecules, and viruses (ii) volcanic ash, metal
oxides/hydroxides, and clay minerals and (iii) microbial activities. On the other hand,
the synthetic NPs are the product of different anthropogenic activities and they are
broadly classified into ‘Incidental and Engineered NPs’. Incidental NPs are accidentally released by various indirect anthropogenic activities, such as combustion and
corrosion processes, automobile exhaust, industrial and mining wastes [43]. Engineered NPs originate from different anthropogenic activities intentionally tailored
towards large production of materials, such as cosmetics, computer chips and accessories, solar cells and home appliances. Based on their precursors, they are further
categorized into six classes as follows and shown in Fig. 2.