| Popis: |
Cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CeO2NP) have recently found use in a wide range of applications including functional coatings, electronics and as fuel additives. It is the latter which may be of particular concern as the environmental load deriving from automobile exhaust is expected to be significant. Herein, the potential toxicity of CeO2NP was investigated using the sea urchin embryonal development test (SUEDT) with three sea urchin species Arbacia lixula, Paracentrotus lividus and Sphaerechinus granularis. Sea urchin sperm were treated with CeO2NP at concentrations ranging between 0.01-10 mg/L. Results indicated that CeO2NP did not affect the fertilization ability of sea urchin sperm with, more than 90% of eggs for each species successfully fertilized. These eggs developed into morphologically normal larvae at all NP concentrations except for the 10 mg/L CeO2NP treatment where larvae of A. lixula and P. lividus showed only 66.8 ± 8.4 and 82.3 ± 3.4 % normally developed larvae after 48h, respectively. Embryonal development following exposure of zygotes to CeO2NP at 30 min post fertilisation proceeded for all three species without significant differences to the control. Thus, SUEDT, as a standardized test, did not indicate that the investigated CeO2NP is a material of concern, even at extremely high concentrations. However, more research is required based on other models, particularly lung models, before concerns about nanoparticulate ceria may be completely alleviated. |
