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Altered physiological conditions of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber as a measure of subchronic TiO2 effects

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Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) show low toxic potential against a variety of environmental organisms when measured by conventional toxicity endpoints. However, the question is whether the conventional measures of toxicity can define the adverse effects of nanoparticles. The aim of this study was to asses the potential toxic and cytotoxic effects of the ingested nano-TiO2 (anatase, <25 nm) on a terrestrial isopod, Porcellio scaber. In addition to conventional toxicity parameters, the physiological condition of the animals was assessed. Following 28-day feeding exposure to nano-TiO2 at concentrations up to 5,000 μg nano-TiO2/g leaf dry weight, no toxic or cytotoxic effects were demonstrated. However, the physiological condition of the animals was affected in a dose-dependent manner. The physiological state of organisms is an important parameter to assess the potential population implications due to the exposure to nanomaterials. Therefore, we suggest that only if both, the physiological state of the animals exposed to nano-TiO2 and the conventional toxicity markers show no effects, the exposure dose can be interpreted as non-hazardous.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), Grant J1-4109. The study underlying these data received funding from the European Community Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant agreement no. 263147 (NanoValid—Development of reference methods for hazard identification, risk assessment and LCA of engineered nanomaterials). The authors would like to thank Chris Berrie and Poornima Budime Santhosh for editorial assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Anja Menard Srpčič, Damjana Drobne & Sara Novak

Authors
  1. Anja Menard Srpčič
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  2. Damjana Drobne
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  3. Sara Novak
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Correspondence to Damjana Drobne.

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Handling Editor: Reimer Stick

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Srpčič, A.M., Drobne, D. & Novak, S. Altered physiological conditions of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber as a measure of subchronic TiO2 effects. Protoplasma 252, 415–422 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0682-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0682-4

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