Form-Specific\nProspective Environmental Risk Assessment\nof Graphene-Based Materials in European Freshwater

As graphene-based\nmaterials (GBMs) such as pristine graphene, graphene\noxide, and reduced graphene oxide show great potential to be integrated\nin various applications, the need for environmental risk assessments\ngrows, aiming to navigate the environmental fate and potential risk\nof the different forms of GBM. This study used dynamic probabilistic\nmaterial flow analysis (DPMFA) to ascertain the prospective production\nvolumes and distribution of GBMs within European freshwaters. The\nhazard assessment leveraged 113 data sets from peer-reviewed studies,\naddressing aquatic ecotoxicity across 26 species, by performing probabilistic\nspecies sensitivity distributions (SSD). Our findings reveal distinct\nenvironmental distribution patterns for GBM forms with predicted environmental\nconcentrations in European freshwaters by 2030 of approximately 0.67\nng/L (SD = 0.24 ng/L) for pristine graphene and 0.33 ng/L (SD = 0.10\nng/L) for both graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide, suggesting\nnot only similar but notably minimal exposure levels. The risk characterization\nratios (RCRs) for all forms of GBM were significantly below 1, indicating\na negligible environmental risk within the scenarios assessed. Through\ndetailed analysis considering the forms of the material, this research\ncan inform regulatory decisions, support sustainable material design,\nand provide a solid foundation for a further investigation considering\nthe environmental fate of GBM.