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Toxicity of zero-valent iron nanoparticles to soil organisms and the associated defense mechanisms: a review

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Abstract

Nanoscale zero-valent iron particles (NZVI) are widely used in a variety of industries owing to their advantageous mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. These particles can be released into environmental media, including water, soil, and air, through several pathways. NZVI in the ecosystem can be taken up, excreted and distributed within organisms, which is harmful to plants, animals and humans. Plants play a significant role as producers in the ecological circle and can both positively and negatively affect the ecological behavior of NZVI. Therefore, understanding the relationship between plants and NZVI is likely to be of great value for the assessment of NZVI-associated risks and future research directions. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the uptake, distribution, and accumulation of NZVI in plants; the phytotoxicity triggered by NZVI exposure at the physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels; and the defense mechanism used by plants to defend against NZVI-induced insults. We further discuss the toxic effects of NZVI on soil animals and microorganisms as well as the risk posed by the presence of NZVI in the food chain.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The data has not been modified in anyway.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Hunan Province Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2021JJ30357) and the Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (2022NK2014).

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  1. College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, PR China

    Shijing Zhang, Kexin Yi, Anwei Chen, Jihai Shao, Liang Peng & Si Luo

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  1. Shijing Zhang
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  2. Kexin Yi
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  3. Anwei Chen
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  4. Jihai Shao
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SZ and KY conceived the idea and SL developed the format of the manuscript. SZ and AC performed the literature review and drafted the manuscript with input from SZ. JS and LP critically evaluated the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

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Correspondence to Si Luo.

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Zhang, S., Yi, K., Chen, A. et al. Toxicity of zero-valent iron nanoparticles to soil organisms and the associated defense mechanisms: a review. Ecotoxicology 31, 873–883 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-022-02565-z

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