Comparison of the Level and Mechanisms of Toxicity of Carbon Nanotubes, Carbon Nanofibers, and Silicon Nanotubes in Bioassay with Four Marine Microalgae

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) have various applications in medicine, cosmetics, optics, catalysis, environmental purification, and other areas nowadays. With an increasing annual production of NPs, the risks of their harmful influence to the environment and human health is rising. Currently, our knowledge about the mechanisms of interaction between NPs and living organisms is limited. Additionally, poor understanding of how physical and chemical characteristic and different conditions influence the toxicity of NPs restrict our attempts to develop the standards and regulations which might allow us to maintain safe living conditions. The marine species and their habitat environment are under continuous stress due to anthropogenic activities which result in the appearance of NPs in the aquatic environment. Our study aimed to evaluate and compare biochemical effects caused by the influence of different types of carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, and silica nanotubes on four marine microalgae species. We evaluated the changes in growth-rate, esterase activity, membrane polarization, and size changes of microalgae cells using flow cytometry method. Our results demonstrated that toxic effects caused by the carbon nanotubes strongly correlated with the content of heavy metal impurities in the NPs. More hydrophobic carbon NPs with less ordered structure had a higher impact on the red microalgae P. purpureum because of higher adherence between the particles and mucous covering of the algae. Silica NPs caused significant inhibition of microalgae growth-rate predominantly produced by mechanical influence.

Toxicity of Carbon, Silicon, and Metal-Based Nanoparticles to Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius

“…Carbon nanofibers also demonstrated relatively high embryotoxicity (48 h LC 50 about 25 mg/L), and carbon nanotubes were the least toxic (48 h LC 50 , 65–75 mg/L). These results are consistent with our previous research with the same NPs tested in microalgae [ 43 , 44 ] and bivalves [ 45 ], where the highest toxicity was observed for the samples of metal and metal sulfide NPs, followed by silicon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, and carbon nanotubes.…”

Effects of coal microparticles on marine organisms: A review

“…In recent years, a significant number of studies have been devoted to the effect of micro and nanosized particles of various origins on marine organisms [ [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] ]. Amongst them, some are devoted to the effects of coal particles and are presented in this review.…”

Physico-chemical properties and toxicological effects on plant and algal models of carbon nanosheets from a nettle fibre clone

“…The toxicity of C nanomaterials in algae can also be due to the presence of heavy metal impurities due to low-efficiency manufacturing process (which, for the lowest manufacturing processes, can constitute up to 99.9% of the total production output 68 ). A recent study has shown that metal impurities in C nanotubes affect the esterase activity of the algae Attheya ussuriensis , Chaetoceros muelleri , Heterosigma akashiwo and Porphyridium purpureum (with the latter showing the lowest changes) 69 . It should however be noted that, in the present study, no metal impurities were detected (Figs.…”