title: Acute and chronic toxicity effects of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: The use of nanoscaled materials is rapidly increasing, however, their possible ecotoxicological effects are still not precisely known. This work constitutes the first complex study focused on in vivo evaluation of the acute and chronic toxic effects and toxic limits of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on the eukaryotic organism Drosophila melanogaster. For the purpose of this study, silver NPs were prepared in the form of solid dispersion using microencapsulation method, where mannitol was used as an encapsulation agent. This newly prepared solid dispersion with a high concentration of silver NPs was exploited to prepare the standard Drosophila culture medium at a silver concentration range from 10 mg·L(-1) to 100 mg·L(-1) of Ag in the case of the acute toxicity testing and at a concentration equal to 5 mg·L(-1) in the case of the chronic toxicity testing. The acute toxic effect of silver NPs on Drosophila melanogaster was observed for the silver concentration equal to 20 mg·L(-1). At this silver concentration, 50% of the tested flies were unable to leave the pupae, and they did not finish their developmental cycle. Chronic toxicity of silver NPs was assessed by a long-term exposure of overall eight filial generations of Drosophila melanogaster to silver NPs. The long-term exposure to silver NPs influenced the fertility of Drosophila during the first three filial generations, nevertheless the fecundity of flies in subsequent generations consequently increased up to the level of the flies from the control sample due to the adaptability of flies to the silver NPs exposure.
authors.affiliation: Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacky University, 17. Listopadu 12, 77146 Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ales
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panacek
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prucek
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Safarova
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dittrich
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richtrova
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Benickova
authors.forename: Radek
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zboril
authors.forename: Libor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kvitek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000187:drug effects; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D010641:Phenotype; D011679:Pupa / Q000187:drug effects; D012834:Silver / Q000633:toxicity*; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D036401:Toxicity Tests, Chronic
chemical_list: D012834:Silver