Environmental impact of silver nanoparticles

In 2015, 251 million tubes of toothpaste were sold in the United States. A single tube holds roughly 170 grams of toothpaste, so approximately 43 kilotonnes of toothpaste get washed into the water systems annually. Toothpaste contains silver nanoparticles, also known as nanosilver or AgNPs, among other compounds.

Each tube of toothpaste contains approximately 91 mg of silver nanoparticles, with approximately 3.9 tonnes of silver nanoparticles entering the environment annually. Silver nanoparticles are not entirely cleared from the water during the wastewater treatment process, possibly leading to detrimental environmental effects.