Toxicity assessment of silica nanoparticles on Allium cepa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5132/eec.2017.01.04Keywords:
Nanomaterial, Genotoxicity, DNA damage, Size influence, AggregationAbstract
Nanotechnology is rapidly expanding, and several new nanoparticle products with improved performance have been developed. The environmental fate and toxicity of nanoparticles (NP) is poorly understood and should be studied to enable the safe use of this technology. This study aims to investigate genotoxic and phytotoxic impacts of silica nanoparticles (SiNP) using root tip cells of Allium cepa as an indicator system. A. cepa root tip cells were exposed to different concentrations (1.82 to 0.54 g L-1; dilution factor of 1.5x) of three engineered dispersions of SiNP (TM40 – 22 nm; HS30 – 12 nm; SM30 – 7 nm). The following endpoints were measured: mitotic index, different types of chromosomal aberrations, germination index and root length. A decrease in the mitotic index was observed with increasing NP concentration, and significant decreases in the MI for all tested NP were found. For all NP cytological effects including chromosomal aberrations were observed in treated cells. Phytotoxic effects were also observed as germination rate and root growth were significantly reduced (p<0.05). Plants are an essential component of ecosystems and these findings suggest that they should be included when evaluating the toxicological impact of NP on the environment.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Contamination
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2006 ECOTOX-Brasil
Copyright notice: It is a condition for publication that manuscripts submitted to this journal have not yet been published and will not be simultaneously submitted or published elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree that copyright for their article is transferred to the Sociedade Brasileira de Ecotoxicologia (ECOTOX-Brasil) if and when the article is accepted for publication. The copyright covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute articles, including reprints, photographic reproductions or any other reproduction of a similar nature, including translations. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission of the publisher.
Notice: While every effort is made by the EEC, editors and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinions or statements appear in this journal, they wish to make it clear that the contents of the articles and advertisements published herein are the sole responsibility of the contributors or advertisers concerned. Accordingly, the EEC, the editorial board and editors and their respective employees, officers and agents accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the consequences of any inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement.
