NANOTOXICOLOGICAL STUDIES OF CARBON NANOTUBES IN ZEBRAFISH

CZARNOWSKI I; MARTINEZ CS; IGARTUA DE; ALONSO SDV; PRIETO MJ

San Luis

Congreso; VII Congreso Argentino de la Sociedad de Toxicología y Química Ambiental; 2018

Nanomaterials are technological products of increasing use due to unique characteristic. Carbonnanotubes are graphene sheet structures with a striking mechanical strength, chemical stability,exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity. Its application in constantly growing, rangingfrom printer inks to drug delivery systems, which could lead to their accumulation in theenvironment. Since the physicochemical properties of the compounds vary when they areproduced at nanoscale, and that the environmental systems are dynamic, it is not possible topredict the hazards associated with the release of nanomaterials into the environment both forhuman and ecosystem health. So, it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive analysis of thetoxicity of water and effluents by studying the behavior of new technologies in ecosystems.In this work, toxicological assays of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of differentdimension were done (MWCNT-S is short and width, MWCNT-L is large and thin). Zebrafish wereused as biomarkers due to their short development times. Tests done were general and tissue-specific toxicity (morphology and functioning of brain, heart and liver) and immunotoxicity.Zebrafish larvae were incubated with 0.005-50 ppm MWCNTs, next developmental morphology(bent spine, jaw malformation, head opacity, liver opacity, yolk opacity, small head, tailmalformation, and uninflated swim bladder), neutrophil migration and functioning of brain andheart and were analyzed.MWCNT-S caused a depression of the locomotor activity of larvae, indicating an alteration of thecentral nervous system; however, no morphological changes are observed. MWCNT-L causedmalformations during larvae development and alteration of cardiac rhythm. Results obtainedwere different for both nanotubes, indicating a potential dissimilar toxicity between MWCNTs,which could be due to the different dimensions.