Dedman, Craig J., King, Aaron M, Christie-Oleza, Joseph Alexander and Davies, Gemma-Louise (2021) Environmentally relevant concentrations of titanium dioxide nanoparticles pose negligible risk to marine microbes. Environmental Science: Nano, 8 (5). pp. 1236-1255. doi:10.1039/d0en00883d

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Abstract

Nano-sized titanium dioxide (nTiO ) represents the highest produced nanomaterial by mass worldwide and, due to its prevalent industrial and commercial use, it inevitably reaches the natural environment. Previous work has revealed a negative impact of nTiO upon marine phytoplankton growth, however, studies are typically carried out at concentrations far exceeding those measured and predicted to occur in the environment currently. Here, a series of experiments were carried out to assess the effects of both research-grade nTiO and nTiO extracted from consumer products upon the marine dominant cyanobacterium, , and natural marine communities at environmentally relevant and supra-environmental concentrations ( , 1 μg L to 100 mg L ). Cell declines observed in cultures were associated with the extensive aggregation behaviour of nTiO in saline media and the subsequent entrapment of microbial cells. Hence, higher concentrations of nTiO particles exerted a stronger decline of cyanobacterial populations. However, within natural oligotrophic seawater, cultures were able to recover over time as the nanoparticles aggregated out of solution after 72 h. Subsequent shotgun proteomic analysis of cultures exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations confirmed minimal molecular features of toxicity, suggesting that direct physical effects are responsible for short-term microbial population decline. In an additional experiment, the diversity and structure of natural marine microbial communities showed negligible variations when exposed to environmentally relevant nTiO concentrations ( , 25 μg L ). As such, the environmental risk of nTiO towards marine microbial species appears low, however the potential for adverse effects in hotspots of contamination exists. In future, research must be extended to consider any effect of other components of nano-enabled product formulations upon nanomaterial fate and impact within the natural environment.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QD Chemistry Q Science > QR Microbiology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- )
SWORD Depositor:	Library Publications Router
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Titanium dioxide, Nanoparticles -- Environmental aspects, Nanostructured materials -- Environmental aspects, Marine algae -- Ecology, Marine microbiology
Journal or Publication Title:	Environmental Science: Nano
Publisher:	Royal Society of Chemistry
ISSN:	2051-8153
Official Date:	May 2021
Dates:	Date Event May 2021 Published 9 April 2021 Available 6 April 2021 Accepted
Volume:	8
Number:	5
Page Range:	pp. 1236-1255
DOI:	10.1039/d0en00883d
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:	Project/Grant ID RIOXX Funder Name Funder ID NE/K009044/1 [NERC] Natural Environment Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270 BB/M017982/1 [BBSRC] Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268 RYC-2017-22452 Ramón y Cajal UNSPECIFIED 10.13039/100014440 Agencia Estatal de Investigación UNSPECIFIED 10.13039/501100004895 European Social Fund http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004895 NE/L002493/1 [NERC] Natural Environment Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270 PID2019-109509RB-I00 / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033 European Social Fund http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004895

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