Abstract

Nanoparticle toxicity depends amongst others on particle characteristics and nanoparticle behavior during their aquatic life cycle. Aquatic organisms may be exposed to nanoparticle agglomerates of varying size, while lager agglomerates after settling rather affect benthic organisms. In this context, the present study systematically examined the role of particle characteristics, i.e. crystalline structure composition (anatase as well as mixture of anatase-rutile), initial particle size (55-, 100-, and 140-nm) and surface area, in the toxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO(2)) to the pelagic filter feeder Daphnia magna (n = 4) and the benthic amphipod Gammarus fossarum (n = 30). Smaller initial particle sizes (i.e. 55-nm) and anatase based particles showed an approximately 90% lower Daphnia EC50-value compared to its respective counterpart. Most importantly, particle surface normalized EC50-values significantly differed for nanoparticles equal to or below 100 nm in size from 140-nm sized particles. Hence, these data suggest that the reactive initial surface area may explain the ecotoxicological potential of different particle size classes only if their size is smaller or around 100 nm. In contrast to Daphnia, Gammarus was not affected by nTiO(2) concentrations of up to 5.00 mg/L, irrespective of their characteristics. This indicates fundamental differences in the toxicity of nTiO(2) during its aquatic life cycle mediated by alterations in their characteristics over time. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Daphnia magna; Gammarus fossarum; Crystallinity; Toxicity; Crustacea

Published in

Science of the Total Environment
2014, Volume: 493, pages: 891-897
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Bundschuh, Mirco

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • University of Koblenz-Landau

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all


UKÄ Subject classification

Other Biological Topics


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.092

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/63616