Toxicity of Carbon, Silicon, and Metal-Based Nanoparticles to the Hemocytes of Three Marine Bivalves

• Published in: Animals
• Main Authors: Konstantin Pikula, Vladimir Chaika, Alexander Zakharenko, Anastasia Savelyeva, Irina Kirsanova, Anna Anisimova, Kirill Golokhvast
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: carbon nanotubes; ecotoxicology; flow cytometry; hemocytes; metal nanoparticles; bivalve mollusc; Veterinary medicine; SF600-1100; Zoology; QL1-991; Modiolus modiolus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10050827; https://doaj.org/article/5bd957c37b75490dac314deb69092e5f

Nanoparticles (NPs) have broad applications in medicine, cosmetics, optics, catalysis, environmental purification, and other areas nowadays. With increasing annual production of NPs, the risks of their harmful influence on the environment and human health are also increasing. Currently, our knowledge about the mechanisms of the interaction between NPs and living organisms is limited. The marine species and their habitat environment are under continuous stress owing to the anthropogenic activities, which result in the release of NPs in the aquatic environment. We used a bioassay model with hemocytes of three bivalve mollusc species, namely, Crenomytilus grayanus , Modiolus modiolus , and Arca boucardi , to evaluate the toxicity of 10 different types of NPs. Specifically, we compared the cytotoxic effects and cell-membrane polarization changes in the hemocytes exposed to carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, silicon nanotubes, cadmium and zinc sulfides, Au-NPs, and TiO 2 NPs. Viability and the changes in hemocyte membrane polarization were measured by the flow cytometry method. The highest aquatic toxicity was registered for metal-based NPs, which caused cytotoxicity to the hemocytes of all the studied bivalve species. Our results also highlighted different sensitivities of the used tested mollusc species to specific NPs.