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A Review on Ecotoxicity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Freshwater Algae

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Nanomaterials: Ecotoxicity, Safety, and Public Perception

Abstract

The steady increase in use of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) based consumer products possess high risk towards aquatic flora and fauna. Understanding the toxicity mechanism of ZnO NPs at an early stage is essential to develop a proper scientific design in innovation process to confine the exposure of nanoparticles at safer levels. Being the primary producers of aquatic food chain, various algal species were used as model organisms in several toxicological studies. This chapter summarizes the aspects that include environmental release, behaviour, dissolution, particle size, morphology, irradiation, reactive oxygen species generation, penetration/internalization of ZnO NPs on various algal species. Dissolved Zn ion toxicity was the major toxicity mechanism exhibited by ZnO NPs towards most of the algal species tested. Additionally, photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs under UV irradiation also significantly increased the toxicity. To conclude, knowledge gaps and future research needs on the usage, discharge and its eco-toxicological effects of ZnO NPs were addressed.

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Abbreviations

NPs:

Nanoparticles

ZnO :

Zinc Oxide

SEM:

Scanning Electron Microscopy

TEM:

Transmission Electron Microscopy

ROS :

Reactive Oxygen Species

LDH :

Lactate Dehydrogenase

SOD :

Superoxide Dismutase

GSH:

Reduced Glutathione

UV:

Ultra Violet

EC50:

Effective Concentration

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Nanobiotechnology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014, India

    M. Bhuvaneshwari, V. Iswarya, N. Chandrasekaran & Amitava Mukherjee

Authors
  1. M. Bhuvaneshwari
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  2. V. Iswarya
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  3. N. Chandrasekaran
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  4. Amitava Mukherjee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amitava Mukherjee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati, Maharashtra, India

    Mahendra Rai

  2. International Centre for Ecological Engineering, Department of Ecological Studies, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India

    Jayanta Kumar Biswas

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Bhuvaneshwari, M., Iswarya, V., Chandrasekaran, N., Mukherjee, A. (2018). A Review on Ecotoxicity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Freshwater Algae. In: Rai, M., Biswas, J. (eds) Nanomaterials: Ecotoxicity, Safety, and Public Perception. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05144-0_10

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