Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) entering the environment are subject to various transformations that in turn influence how particles are presented to, and taken up by, organisms. To understand the effect of soil properties on the toxicity of nanosilver to Caenorhabditis elegans, toxicity assays were performed in porewater extracts from natural soils with varying organic matter content and pH using 3–8 nm unfunctionalized silver (Ag 3–8Unf), 52‐nm polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)‐coated Ag NPs (Ag 52PVP), and AgNO3 as ionic Ag. Effects on NP agglomeration and stability were investigated using ultraviolet‐visible (UV‐vis) spectroscopy and asymmetric flow field‐flow fractionation (AF4); Ag+ showed greater overall toxicity than nanosilver, with little difference between the NP types. Increasing soil organic matter content significantly decreased the toxicity of Ag 3–8Unf, whereas it increased that of AgNO3. The toxicity of all Ag treatments significantly decreased with increasing porewater pH. Dissolution of both NPs in the porewater extracts was too low to have contributed to their observed toxic effects. The UV‐vis spectroscopy revealed low levels of agglomeration/aggregation independent of soil properties for Ag 3–8Unf, whereas higher organic matter as well as low pH appeared to stabilize Ag 52PVP. Overall, both soil organic matter content and pH affected NP fate as well as toxicity to C. elegans; however, there appears to be no clear connection between the measured particle characteristics and their effect. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2609–2618. © 2018 SETAC
Influence of soil porewater properties on the fate and toxicity of silver nanoparticles to Caenorhabditis elegans
C. Schultz,E. Lahive,A. Lawlor,A. Crossley,V. Puntes,J. Unrine,C. Svendsen,D. Spurgeon
Published 2018 in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2018
- Venue
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
- Publication date
2018-08-06
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine, Chemistry, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- ag 3–8unf
Unfunctionalized silver nanoparticles with a primary size range of 3–8 nm used as one nanosilver treatment.
Aliases: 3–8 nm unfunctionalized silver, Ag 3-8Unf
- ag 52pvp
Polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated silver nanoparticles with a nominal 52 nm size used as one nanosilver treatment.
Aliases: 52-nm PVP-coated silver nanoparticles, 52-nm polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated silver nanoparticles
- agglomeration and stability
Particle clustering and persistence behavior of the silver nanoparticles in the porewater extracts.
Aliases: aggregation, clustering
- agno3
The ionic silver source used as the dissolved silver comparator treatment.
Aliases: silver nitrate
- asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation
A separation technique used to characterize nanoparticle size-related behavior in the porewater extracts.
Aliases: AF4
- caenorhabditis elegans
The worm species used as the toxicity test organism in the exposure assays.
Aliases: nematode
- dissolution
Release of dissolved silver from the nanoparticle treatments into the porewater extracts.
Aliases: dissolution of silver nanoparticles
- nanosilver
Silver particles in nanoscale form used here as the particulate silver treatments contrasted with ionic silver.
Aliases: silver nanoparticles, Ag nanoparticles
- porewater ph
The acidity or alkalinity of the soil-derived porewater extracts used for exposure.
Aliases: pH of porewater, soil porewater pH
- soil organic matter content
The amount of organic material present in the soil porewater context used to condition the exposures.
Aliases: soil organic matter, OM content
- uv-vis spectroscopy
A spectroscopic method used to probe nanoparticle behavior in the porewater extracts.
Aliases: UV-vis
REFERENCES
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