Building the Bridge From Aquatic Nanotoxicology to Safety by Design Silver Nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanotechnologies have rapidly grown, and they are considered the new industrial revolution. However, the augmented production and wide applications of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and nanoparticles (NPs) inevitably lead to environmental exposure with consequences on human and environmental health. Engineered nanomaterial and nanoparticle (ENM/P) effects on humans and the environment are complex and largely depend on the interplay between their peculiar properties such as size, shape, coating, surface charge, and degree of agglomeration or aggregation and those of the receiving media/body. These rebounds on ENM/P safety and newly developed concepts such as the safety by design are gaining importance in the field of sustainable nanotechnologies. This article aims to review the critical characteristics of the ENM/Ps that need to be addressed in the safe by design process to develop ENM/Ps with the ablility to reduce/minimize any potential toxicological risks for living beings associated with their exposure. Specifically, we focused on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) due to an increasing number of nanoproducts containing AgNPs, as well as an increasing knowledge about these nanomaterials (NMs) and their effects. We review the ecotoxicological effects documented on freshwater and marine species that demonstrate the importance of the relationship between the ENM/P design and their biological outcomes in terms of environmental safety.

Nanomaterials and Safety Concerns to End Users

“…In this context, specific regulations that ensure the safety use of NM are of paramount importance in order to present technical and accurate information about NM. Until now, the number of publications that address the nanotechnology applications together with regulatory issues and environmental management of NP is scare, but it is a rapidly growing field [51,58,59].…”

Expanding adverse outcome pathways towards one health models for nanosafety

“…Like with microbes, the disturbance of individual components of an ecosystem can induce a cascade of far-reaching events. For instance, adverse effects observed in phytoplankton and microcrustaceans may extend far into the food web and induce changes in the whole ecosystem (Corsi et al, 2022). Important considerations have been precedented by the increasing pollution caused by micro-and nanoplastics (Alimi et al, 2018).…”

Characterization and Behaviour of Silica Engineered Nanocontainers in Low and High Ionic Strength Media

“…Despite the progress in understanding the interactions of ENMs in environmental matrices [31], the behaviour of ENMs at their end-life stages when reaching marine areas remains limited [32,33]. Insights into the transformations experienced by ENMs under those conditions will support the generation of safer nano-based products [34].…”