The effects and the potential mechanism of environmental transformation of metal nanoparticles on their toxicity in organisms

The rapid development of nanotechnology has raised great concern over its effect on environmental health and safety (EHS). Due to their novel physicochemical properties, metal nanoparticles (MNPs) are the most widely adopted engineered nanomaterials that have been utilized in industrial production,...

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Published inEnvironmental science. Nano Vol. 5; no. 11; pp. 2482 - 2499
Main Authors Zhang, Jie, Guo, Wenli, Li, Qingqing, Wang, Zhe, Liu, Sijin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 09.11.2018
Subjects
Environmental conditions
Environmental effects
Environmental governance
Environmental health
Environmental policy
Governance
Industrial production
Metals
Nanomaterials
Nanoparticles
Nanotechnology
Natural environment
Natural resource management
Physicochemical processes
Physicochemical properties
Public health
Safety
Sustainability
Toxicity
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Summary:The rapid development of nanotechnology has raised great concern over its effect on environmental health and safety (EHS). Due to their novel physicochemical properties, metal nanoparticles (MNPs) are the most widely adopted engineered nanomaterials that have been utilized in industrial production, environmental governance and commercial products. Although significant progress has been made towards the toxicity assessment of pristine MNPs, knowledge gaps regarding their EHS impacts have yet to be addressed. Transformation of MNPs in the environment can result in toxicity of transformed nanoparticles being different from that of pristine particles. Despite recent investigations into MNP-mediated toxicity, most of them only focused on the toxic effects of pristine nanoparticles, which does not fully elucidate the harmful effects of MNPs under environmental exposure conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the transformation-related toxic properties of MNPs. In this review, we briefly presented the main transformation processes in the natural environments followed by summarizing the toxicity of transformed MNPs in organisms and cells compared to that of the pristine forms. Finally, we also hypothesized possible mechanisms through which transformation could affect MNP-induced toxicity under environmental exposure. The influence of environmental transformation on the toxicity of metal nanoparticles and possible mechanisms are recapitulated and discussed.
Bibliography:Jie Zhang received her bachelor's degree in Public Health from Shandong University in 2013. She is currently a PhD student at the Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research interest is environmental toxicity with a special focus on the health risk of nanoparticles.
Dr. Wenli Guo is currently an assistant professor at Henan Normal University College of Fisheries. She received her PhD degree from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015. Her research focuses on environmental pollutant-mediated effects and nanotoxicity, especially for aquatic organisms. She is now undertaking her postdoc training in iron metabolism at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
Dr. Zhe Wang is an assistant professor at Xinxiang Medical University School of Public Health. After completing her PhD at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr. Zhe Wang continuously worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University in the United States. In 2016, she started her independent research career in the current position. Her research mainly focuses on the environmental and health hazards of engineered nanomaterials.
Qingqing Li received her bachelor's degree in Preventive Medicine from Xinxiang Medical University, China, in 2017. Currently she is engaged in assessing the nanotoxicity of metal nanomaterials as a master's degree candidate at the same university.
Dr. Sijin Liu is currently a professor at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He received his PhD from the Institute of Developmental Biology and Genetics, CAS, in 2004. Thereafter, he received his postdoc training in hematology and oncology at MIT and Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, from 2004 to 2008. Afterwards, he became an instructor at Tufts Medical School in 2008. Dr. Liu moved to the current position at the end of 2009. Dr. Liu is a recipient of the NSFC "Outstanding Yong Scientist" award and CAS "One Hundred Talent Program" award and is also the chief scientist of the "National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program)". His research interests include (1) the mechanisms responsible for environmental pollutant-mediated oncogenic effects and (2) nanotoxicity and nanosafety.
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ISSN:2051-8153
2051-8161
DOI:10.1039/c8en00688a