This study investigated the toxicity of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) to Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow-2 (BY-2) cells.

The roles of Al2O3 particles with different morphologies in altering graphene oxide (GO) toxicity to Chlorella pyrenoidosa were investigated. Algal growth inhibition by GO with coexisting Al2O3 particles was much lower than the sum of inhibitions from the individual materials for all the three Al2O3, showing the toxicity mitigation by Al2O3. The lowest GO toxicity was observed at the concentrations of 300, 150, and 100 mg/L for Al2O3 nanoparticles (NPs, 8–10 nm), bulk particles (BPs, 100–300 nm), and fibers (diameter: 10 nm; length: 400 nm), respectively. GO-Al2O3 heteroaggregation was responsible for the observed toxicity reduction. GO-induced algal membrane damage was suppressed by the three types of Al2O3 due to GO-Al2O3 heteroaggregation, and the reduction in intracellular reactive oxygen species generation and physical contact were confirmed as two main mechanisms. Moreover, the exposure sequence of GO and Al2O3 could highly influence the toxicity, and the simultaneous exposure of individual GO and Al2O3 showed the lowest toxicity due to minimum direct contact with algal cells. Humic acid further decreased GO-Al2O3 toxicity due to enhanced steric hindrance through surface coating of GO-Al2O3 heteroaggregates. This work provides new insights into the role of natural mineral particles in altering the environmental risk of GO.

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Nanosurface chemistry and dose govern the bioaccumulation and toxicity of carbon nanotubes, metal nanomaterials and quantum dots in vivo Science Bulletin 60, 3 (2015); QSAR models and their corresponding toxicity mechanism for mixture toxicity of organic pollutants

In this work, we investigated the effects of GO on dispersion stability of the two types of TiO 2 NPs under different pHs. At pH 4, heteroaggregation may occur between GO and the two types of TiO 2 NPs (TiO 2 Nanotube and TiO 2 Nanowire), enhancing the sedimentation of TiO 2 NPs. However, at pH 7 and 10, GO enhanced the suspension of the two types of TiO 2 NPs. Electrostatic interaction could be a major mechanism for TiO 2 NPs-GO interaction.

碳纳米材料(carbon nanomaterial, CNMs)是指至少 有一个维度在纳米尺度的新型低维碳材料, 主要包括 零维的富勒烯(fullerene)和碳量子点(carbon dots, CDs), 一维的碳纳米角(carbon nanohorns, CNHs)和碳 纳米管(carbon nanotubes, CNTs), 二维的石墨烯(graphene)及其衍生物氧化石墨烯(graphene oxide, GO)、 还原型氧化石墨烯(reduced graphene oxide, RGO)等 [1]. 其中碳纳米管又分为单壁碳纳米管(single-walled carbon nanotubes, SWCNTs)和多壁碳纳米管(multi-walled carbon nanotubes, MWCNTs).

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Marine microplastic pollution has become one of the global problems due to the adverse effects of microplastics on marine organisms. This study investigated the uptake of (Polystyrene, PS) microplastics by marine rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) under different microplastic concentration, exposure time and type of containers. The results showed that the ingestion of microplastics by rotifers was positively correlated with microplastic concentration. The intake reached maximum (65±5 particles/individuals, 5 mg/L; 28±11 particles/individuals, 3 mg/L) at 24 h, and then decreased over time. Moreover, the intake of microplastics in the plastic well plates was much lower than that in the glass vial. This study demonstrated that the intake of microplastics by rotifers varied with microplastics concentration and exposure time. More importantly, microplastics-related experiments using plastic containers could influence the uptake results. This work provides useful information on the interaction of microplastics with marine organisms.