Toxicity of Carbon, Silicon, and Metal-Based Nanoparticles to Sea Urchin <i>Strongylocentrotus intermedius</i>

With the increasing annual production of nanoparticles (NPs), the risks of their harmful influence on the environment and human health are rising. However, our knowledge about the mechanisms of interaction between NPs and living organisms is limited. Prior studies have shown that echinoderms, and es...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Konstantin Pikula, Alexander Zakharenko, Vladimir Chaika, Iurii Em, Anna Nikitina, Evgenii Avtomonov, Anna Tregubenko, Alexander Agoshkov, Ilya Mishakov, Vladimir Kuznetsov, Alexander Gusev, Soojin Park, Kirill Golokhvast
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
Series:Nanomaterials
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/10/9/1825
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Summary:With the increasing annual production of nanoparticles (NPs), the risks of their harmful influence on the environment and human health are rising. However, our knowledge about the mechanisms of interaction between NPs and living organisms is limited. Prior studies have shown that echinoderms, and especially sea urchins, represent one of the most suitable models for risk assessment in environmental nanotoxicology. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the sea urchin <i>Strongylocentrotus intermedius</i> has not been used for testing the toxicity of NPs. The present study was designed to determine the effect of 10 types of common NPs on spermatozoa activity, egg fertilization, and early stage of embryo development of the sea urchin <i>S. intermedius</i>. In this research, we used two types of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT-1 and CNT-2), two types of carbon nanofibers (CNF-1 and CNF-2), two types of silicon nanotubes (SNT-1 and SNT-2), nanocrystals of cadmium and zinc sulfides (CdS and ZnS), gold NPs (Au), and titanium dioxide NPs (TiO<sub>2</sub>). The results of the embryotoxicity test showed the following trend in the toxicity level of used NPs: Au > SNT-2 > SNT-1 > CdS > ZnS > CNF-2 > CNF-1 > TiO<sub>2</sub> > CNT-1 > CNT-2. This research confirmed that the sea urchin <i>S. intermedius</i> can be considered as a sensitive and stable test model in marine nanotoxicology.
ISSN:2079-4991