Converging hazard assessment of gold nanoparticles to aquatic organisms

•Toxicity of gold to freshwater algae, daphnia and zebrafish was examined.•Naked and functionalized Au nanoparticles resulted harmless to these organisms.•Gold chloride resulted toxic after acute exposure, with LC50 between 1 and 2mgL−1.•Surface charge and size of Au nanoparticle are key factors to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosphere (Oxford) 2013-10, Vol.93 (6), p.1194-1200
Main Authors: García-Cambero, Jesús Pablo, Núñez García, Mercedes, López, Gema Díaz, Herranz, Ana López, Cuevas, Laureano, Pérez-Pastrana, Esperanza, Cuadal, Judith Sendra, Castelltort, Marc Ramis, Calvo, Argelia Castaño
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Applied ecology
aquatic organisms
Aquatic Organisms - drug effects
Biological and medical sciences
Danio rerio
Daphnia
Ecotoxicity
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Fresh water environment
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
gold
Gold - toxicity
Gold chloride
Gold nanoparticle
hazard characterization
hyaluronic acid
lethal concentration 50
Metal Nanoparticles - toxicity
nanoparticles
physicochemical properties
Risk Assessment
Scenedesmus subspicatus
toxicity
Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
Zebrafish
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Summary:•Toxicity of gold to freshwater algae, daphnia and zebrafish was examined.•Naked and functionalized Au nanoparticles resulted harmless to these organisms.•Gold chloride resulted toxic after acute exposure, with LC50 between 1 and 2mgL−1.•Surface charge and size of Au nanoparticle are key factors to explain its toxicity. The gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are being increasingly used because of their huge diversity of applications, and consequently, elevated levels in the environment are expected. However, due to their physico-chemical properties and functionalization a high variety of Au-NPs can be found, and complete toxicological information for each type of Au-NPs still lacks, and even, the toxicological information for the same species is sometimes contradictory. Therefore, hazard assessment should be done case by case. Hence, the objective of this study was to obtain ecotoxicological information of the same Au-NPs in aquatic organisms and to find a rationale for Au-NPs toxicity. For such a purpose, bare and hyaluronic acid capped Au-NPs (12.5nm) along with Au-NPs bulk material were tested on freshwater algae, Daphnia and zebrafish. Results showed that while gold nanoparticles were found to be harmless to the tested organisms, the soluble gold showed to be toxic to algae and Daphnia, with an LC50 between 1 and 2mgL−1. Comparing our results with those gathered in the literature, it appears that a common hazard assessment of Au-NPs on the studied organisms can be elucidated.
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.06.074