Nanomaterials toxicity and teratogenicity in aquatic environment using Rhinella arenarum model

YSLAS, E.I.

TOXICOLOGY LETTERS

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 2016 vol. 259

0378-4274

Introduction: Nanotechnology is growing at an exponentialrate and will undoubtedly have both beneficial and toxicologicalimpact and consequences on health and environment. Amphibiansare being increasingly used for toxicity screening purposesdue to their high sensitivity to physicochemical stress and usefulindicators of freshwater contamination. Amphibians, with lifestage comprising embryos, tadpoles, and adults, have an extremelypermeable skin, which makes them excellent indicators of environmentalhealth. Rhinella arenarum is widely distributed in our region(Río Cuarto, Cordoba Province, Argentina). AMPHITOX is a set ofcustomized toxicity test for acute, short term chronic, chronic andearly life stages of amphibian embryos of R. arenarum, which allowselecting the most appropriate exposure period and end pointsaccording to the toxicity of the sample and the purpose of thestudy.Objective: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the susceptibilityof embryos at 2?4 blastomeric stage (s2?s4) and larvaein premetamorphosis (stage 25) (AMPHITOX bioassay) to differentconcentrations of polyaniline (PANI) nanomaterials (nanofibersand nanoparticles).Methods: The susceptibility of R. arenarum larvae to PANI duringthe 25th stage of development was evaluated by exposing the larvaeto different concentrations of each nanomaterial. On the otherhand, the teratogenic assay of different nanomaterials to embryoswas carried out by observing the embryotoxic effects at continuousexposure from early blastula (S.2?S.4) during a 96 h period.Results: These results demonstrated a stage-dependent susceptibilityfor PANI-nanomaterials. Early stage embryos are moresensitive than more mature embryos. The mayor toxicity perhapsit could be attributed to the minor size of the nanomaterials and itsbioaccumulation.Conclusions: This in vivo model might serve to determine notonly the PANI toxicity but also other nanomaterials, consequentlythis popular alternative organism can be extensively used as modelsin nanotoxicology.