Applicability Evaluation of Soil Algae Pipe Assay in Silver Nanoparticle-Contaminated Soils

Abstract

Due to pervasive and resilient soil contaminants, heterogeneously contaminated soil poses unpredictable potential threats to ecosystems. In this study, the extension of a previously developed soil algae pipe assay for evaluating heterogeneously contaminated soil under an open system is described. The assay can be used in soil that is heterogeneously contaminated with silver nanoparticles in combination with the examination of morphological changes (e.g., in vivo chlorophyll a, cell granularity, cell size, and mucilaginous sheath) and lipid contents. In addition, we attempted to extend the exposure duration under an open system. We evaluated the applicability of this soil algae pipe assay using green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exposed to heterogeneous and homogeneous polyvinylpyrrolidone capping silver nanoparticles in contaminated soils. The results demonstrated that this method is an applicable bioassay that can be employed to better evaluate soil algal toxicity under an open system, with significant changes in the measured endpoints. The developed assay showed decent predictivity, which can be a useful tool when evaluating heterogeneous soil algae contamination.

Ecotoxicity of AgNPs according to the state of biota

“…Thus, the change in the state of soil biota caused by AgNPs can serve as an indicator of any adverse impact that AgNPs have on soil quality and fertility. Biological indicators are often used in monitoring soil contamination with silver [14,15]. There are studies in the literature in which a wide range of doses of AgNPs has been studied for individual biological indicators; however, such a comprehensive study devoted to studying the effects of different concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 mg/kg) of AgNPs on a wide range of biological indicators will be conducted for the first time.…”

Assessment of the Ecotoxicity of Ag, Bi, Te and Tl According to the Biological Indicators of Haplic Chernozem

“…The presence of high concentrations of silver, bismuth, tellurium, and thallium in the soil has a direct effect on the activity of soil enzymes, the abundance and diversity of soil bacteria, and plant growth and development. The effect of silver soil pollution has been studied on a wide range of biological indicators [20,21]: decrease of soil enzyme activity [22,23], reduction of plant root length [24], reduction of species diversity, and abundance of soil bacteria [25,26]. Under the influence of bismuth soil pollution, the activity of dehydrogenases in soil ecosystems is inhibited [27].…”