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The performance of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) acting as contaminants-carriers in vivo is critical for understanding the environmental risks of CNTs. In this study, the whole-body accumulation and tissue distribution of phenanthrene in Japanese medaka was examined in the presence of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and the potential release of phenanthrene was investigated from two types of SWCNTs suspensions that differed in surface charge and stability. The results showed that the coexistence of SWCNTs facilitated the accumulation of phenanthrene in the digestive track of fish and therefore enhanced the whole-body phenanthrene concentration by 2.1 fold after exposure for 72 h. Meanwhile, 6.4-48 and 20-34 times higher phenanthrene concentrations were measured in the liver and brain of fish exposure to the two mixtures, respectively, when comparing with the phenanthrene alone treatment with equal concentration of soluble phenanthrene. The extra phenanthrene was from the SWCNTs-associated phenanthrene that accumulated in the digestive track indicating the release of phenanthrene from SWCNTs did occur in fish. Moreover, the neutrally charged SWCNTs showed different agglomeration behaviors from the negatively charged SWCNTs, which could affect the accumulation of SWCNTs in the digestive track of fish and subsequently influence the retention of phenanthrene associated with the carbon nanotubes.

With the widespread application of fullerenes, it is critical to assess their environmental behaviors and their impacts on the transport and bioavailability of organic contaminants. The effects of fullerene particle size, chemistry of the solution, and natural organic matter on the adsorption of atrazine by aqueous dispersions of fullerenes (C60) were investigated in this work. The results showed that the Polanyi-Manes model could fit the adsorption isotherms well. Smaller sizes of fullerene particles led to increased available sites and, consequently, enhanced the adsorption of atrazine on C60. However, intensely dispersed C60 systems might not possess suitably high adsorptive capacities due to surface chemistry change. Adsorption of atrazine by aqueous dispersions of C60 increased with a decrease in the pH of the solution. Introduction of humic acid significantly reduced the size of the C60 particles, and resulted in the increase of the adsorption amount. Fullerene materials, once released into the aquatic environment, are inclined to form aqueous suspensions with different degrees of dispersion, which would greatly affect the transport and fate of organic contaminants.

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