title: Impacts of chemical modification on the toxicity of diverse nanocellulose materials to developing zebrafish.
abstract: Cellulose is an abundant and renewable resource currently being investigated for utility in nanomaterial form for various promising applications ranging from medical and pharmaceutical uses to mechanical reinforcement and biofuels. The utility of nanocellulose and wide implementation ensures increasing exposure to humans and the environment as nanocellulose-based technologies advance. Here, we investigate how differences in aspect ratio and changes to surface chemistry, as well as synthesis methods, influence the biocompatibility of nanocellulose materials using the embryonic zebrafish. Investigations into the toxicity of neutral, cationic and anionic surface functionalities revealed that surface chemistry had a minimal influence on the overall toxicity of nanocellulose materials. Higher aspect ratio cellulose nanofibers produced by mechanical homogenization were, in some cases, more toxic than other cellulose-based nanofibers or nanocrystals produced by chemical synthesis methods. Using fluorescently labeled nanocellulose we were able to show that nanocellulose uptake did occur in embryonic zebrafish during development. We conclude that the benign nature of nanocellulose materials makes them an ideal platform to systematically investigate the inherent surface features driving nanomaterial toxicity in order to create safer design principles for engineered nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 1007 ALS Building, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 1007 ALS Building, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Alicea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clendaniel
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 1007 ALS Building, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sinche
authors.affiliation: Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Way
authors.affiliation: Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
authors.forename: Jenna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simonsen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV, USA.
authors.forename: Aleksandr B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Stefaniak
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University, 1007 ALS Building, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Stacey L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Harper
keywords: Nanocellulose; Nanocrystals; Nanofibers; Surface chemistry; Zebrafish