Volume: 3, 2024
3rd International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland:
ENVIRONMENT – PLANT – ANIMAL – PRODUCT
Abstract number: E005
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL3.E005
Published online: 24 April 2024
ICDSUPL, 3, E005 (2024)
Sulfidation as a strategy to reduce ZnO nanoparticle toxicity in environmental systems. Insights from ecotoxicological assessments
Mikołaj Feculak1*, Susana Loureiro2, Patricia V. Silva2, Monika Raczkiewicz3, Patryk Oleszczuk3, Izabela Jośko1
1 Institute of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agrobioengineering, University of Life Sciences, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
2 Department of Biology and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
3 Department of Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej 2, 20-031 Lublin, Poland
* Corresponding author: mikolaj.feculak@up.lublin.pl
Abstract
Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a steady increase in the production and use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in various domains. Due to ZnO ENPs are one of the most widely used metal-based ENPs, their deliberate or unintentional release into the environment is inevitable. The toxicity of pristine ZnO ENPs to aquatic organisms and plants has been intensively studied. However, once released metal-based ENPs into the environment undergo different transformations, e.g. sulphidation, which alters their properties and interactions with living organisms, including toxicity. Thus, our study was aimed at the toxicity analysis of ZnO and ZnS ENPs towards the crustacean Daphnia magna and cress seedlings Lepidium sativum L. First, ZnS ENPs were obtained by aging ZnO ENPs in solutions containing S2-, followed by physicochemical characterization of ENPs (TEM, BET, XRD, XAS, XRF, FTIR). Subsequently, an acute toxicity test was carried out for D. magna and L. sativum according to OECD guidelines No. 202 and 208, respectively. Sulphidation was effective in reducing the toxicity of ZnO ENPs to both test organisms based on calculated values of EC50. However, at high concentrations (>240 mg/L), the toxicity of ZnS ENPs was similar to ZnO ENPs. It was also noted that aquatic organisms were significantly more sensitive to the presence of ZnO ENPs and ZnS ENPs (EC50 1.12 – 4.01 mg/L for D. magna) compared to plants, for which the EC50 were 130.5 mg/L and 229.4 mg/L, respectively. The toxicity level of the tested ENPs was correlated with their dissolution and the concentration of Zn2+. Therefore, it can be concluded that sulphidation has the potential to mitigate the toxicity of ZnO ENPs due to the reduction of ENPs dissolution. However, the real environmental concentrations of ZnO ENPs must be taken into account, as the inhibitory toxicity potential of sulphidation decreases as the concentration increases.
Keywords: engineered nanoparticles, zinc oxide, environmental risk, invertebrates, plants
How to cite
M. Feculak, S. Loureiro, P.V. Silva, M. Raczkiewicz, P. Oleszczuk, I. Jośko, 2024. Sulfidation as a strategy to reduce ZnO nanoparticle toxicity in environmental systems. Insights from ecotoxicological assessments. In: 3rd International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland: Environment – Plant – Animal – Product. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL3.E005