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Combinational effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles and nanopolystyrene particles at environmentally relevant concentrations on nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2018 158 citations

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Researchers exposed the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to environmentally realistic concentrations of both titanium dioxide nanoparticles and nanopolystyrene simultaneously, finding that nanoplastics enhanced the toxicity of the metal oxide particles, worsening locomotion impairment and gut oxidative stress beyond what either pollutant caused alone.

The possible adverse effects of nanoplastics have received the great attention recently; however, their effects at environmentally relevant concentration on organisms are still largely unclear. We here employed Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the combinational effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO-NPs) and nanopolystyrene particles at environmentally relevant concentrations on organisms. In wild-type nematodes, prolonged exposure to nanopolystyrene particles (1 μg/L) could enhance the toxicity of TiO-NPs (1 μg/L) in decreasing locomotion behavior and in inducing intestinal reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Meanwhile, combinational exposure to TiO-NPs (1 μg/L) and nanopolystyrene particles (1 μg/L) altered the molecular basis for oxidative stress in wild-type nematodes. Moreover, prolonged exposure to nanopolystyrene particles (0.1 μg/L) could further enhance the toxicity of TiO-NPs (1 μg/L) in decreasing locomotion behavior and in inducing intestinal ROS production in sod-3 mutant nematodes. Our data suggest the potential role of nanopolystyrene particles at environmentally relevant concentrations in enhancing the toxicity of ENMs in the environment.

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