Background Chemicals have deleterious effect on the environment. The wide use of nanomaterials as products for plant protection, fertilizers, and also in water purification leads to the release of these materials to the environment. Terrestrial gastropods including snails and slugs have the ability to accumulate heavy metals in their bodies. The present study evaluates the toxic effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles on the terrestrial slug Lehmannia nyctelia. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were prepared by thermal decomposition method. ZnO NPs are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV). Slugs were treated with three different concentrations of ZnO NPs. Results A total of three animals died by the end of the experiment. Many histological alterations were detected after exposure to different concentration of ZnO NPs. Conclusions The obtained histological alterations prove the toxic effect of ZnO NPs on the animal under study.

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The influence of pharmaceutical residues and heavy metals on living organisms has received global attention. The present study assessed the interactive effect of antibiotic residues and heavy metals in soil, as contaminated food with cadmium (Cd) and oxytetracycline (OTC) on the isopod Porcellio leavis. It was fed on fresh plant leaves contaminated with different concentrations of cadmium, Cd+OTC1000 ppm, Cd+OTC2000 ppm and Cd+OTC3000 ppm for 4 weeks. The changes in the feeding patterns, protein, lipid peroxidation (LPO), catalase activity (CAT), and total free amino acids (TFAA) were recorded. There were significant differences in the obtained results where Cd reduced the egestion ratio (ER) however, OTC enhanced this ratio. Biochemical analysis illustrated that combination between OTC and Cd inhibits the toxic effects of Cd at low concentration (1000 ppm), while at high concentration (3000 ppm) raise the toxicity. Detailed studies are required for further understanding of the interaction between OTC and heavy metals, and also its impact on soil animals and for improving soil risk evaluation.

It is known that silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and AgNO3 have harmful effects on the surrounding organisms, which may cause damage to these organisms. Therefore, the aim of this study is to detect damage caused by Ag NPs and silver nitrate to land slugs (Lehmannia nyctelia). In this study, the slugs were exposed to various concentrations of Ag NPs and AgNO3 for 15 days. The biochemical, antioxidant, lipid peroxidation (LPO), DNA fragmentation, and histopathological endpoints were assessed after 15 days of exposure to different concentrations of Ag NPs (0.04, 0.08, 0.4, and 0.8 g/L) and silver nitrate (0.04, 0.08, 0.4, and 0.8 g/L). The results show a significant decrease in total protein, total carbohydrate, superoxide dismutase, and GST and a significant increase in total lipid, LPO, and DNA fragmentation after exposure to Ag NPs and AgNO3 for 15 days compared with the control group. Histopathiological alterations were observed in the digestive glands which were indicated by histochemical staining. We concluded that exposure to AgNO3 and Ag NPs caused oxidative stress, genetic damage and alterations in the profile of muscle proteins and histological structure in L. nyctelia.

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