Toxicity Assessment of Silver Nanoparticles in Zebrafish Embryos

Abstract

Genotoxic effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag-np) in a vertebrate model system were investigated.Effects and accumulation patterns of silver nanoparticles were studied using zebrafish embryos. Nanoparticles of silver were synthesized by chemical reduction of silver nitrate, using sodium borohydride as reducing agent and polyvinyl pyrolidene as a stabilizer. These nanoparticles were characterized by UV/ Vis spectrophotometer (absorption spectra), Transmission electron microscopy and were found to have the size range of 4 to 10 nm. Evaluation of cytotoxicity was carried out at various concentrations to obtain the LD 50 value. Dose dependent decrease in percent viability was observed on exposure of embryos to different concentrations of silver nanoparticles with LD 50 of 1.0 µg/ml. The results indicate that silver nanoparticles induce a dose-dependent toxicity in embryos and abrogate normal development.