As the production and use of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) increases, so does the concern of the scientific community over their release into the environment. Single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is emerging as one of the best techniques for NP detection and quantification; however, it is often limited by high size detection limits (SDL). To that end, a high sensitivity sector field ICP-MS (SF-ICP-MS) with microsecond dwell times (50 µs) was used to lower the SDL of CeO2 NPs to below 4.0 nm. Ag and Au NPs were also analyzed for reference. SF-ICP-MS was then used to detect CeO2 NPs in a Montreal rainwater at a concentration of (2.2 ± 0.1) × 108 L-1 with a mean diameter of 10.8 ± 0.2 nm; and in a St. Lawrence River water at a concentration of ((1.6 ± 0.3) × 109 L-1) with a higher mean diameter (21.9 ± 0.8 nm). SF-ICP-MS and single particle time of flight ICP-MS on Ce and La indicated that 36% of the Ce-containing NPs detected in Montreal rainwater were engineered Ce NPs.
Keywords: cerium oxide; nanoparticles; natural waters; sector field; single particle ICP-MS; time of flight.