Form-Specific Prospective Environmental Risk Assessment of Graphene-Based Materials in European Freshwater

As graphene-based
materials (GBMs) such as pristine graphene, graphene
oxide, and reduced graphene oxide show great potential to be integrated
in various applications, the need for environmental risk assessments
grows, aiming to navigate the environmental fate and potential risk
of the different forms of GBM. This study used dynamic probabilistic
material flow analysis (DPMFA) to ascertain the prospective production
volumes and distribution of GBMs within European freshwaters. The
hazard assessment leveraged 113 data sets from peer-reviewed studies,
addressing aquatic ecotoxicity across 26 species, by performing probabilistic
species sensitivity distributions (SSD). Our findings reveal distinct
environmental distribution patterns for GBM forms with predicted environmental
concentrations in European freshwaters by 2030 of approximately 0.67
ng/L (SD = 0.24 ng/L) for pristine graphene and 0.33 ng/L (SD = 0.10
ng/L) for both graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide, suggesting
not only similar but notably minimal exposure levels. The risk characterization
ratios (RCRs) for all forms of GBM were significantly below 1, indicating
a negligible environmental risk within the scenarios assessed. Through
detailed analysis considering the forms of the material, this research
can inform regulatory decisions, support sustainable material design,
and provide a solid foundation for a further investigation considering
the environmental fate of GBM.