title: Potential effects of TiO2nanoparticles and TiCl4in saltwater to Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Artemia franciscana.
abstract: Nanosized titanium dioxide (nTiO2) is widespread in many commercial products and several authors investigated its ecotoxicity effects focusing mainly on freshwater environments. Data on saltwater species are still lacking or present contradicting results. We compared for the first time the toxicity of TiCl4and nTiO2considering standard toxicity tests with microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum (growth inhibition test, 1.8-90mg/L) and crustacean Artemia franciscana (mortality test, 0.5-64mg/L). For A. franciscana, two alternative scenarios were considered beside standard protocol: i) darkness; and ii) starvation. About microalgae, results evidenced that effects of TiCl4(EC50=63mg/L) were greater than nTiO2(no EC50), but IC10 and IC20 were significantly lower suggesting that nTiO2is more harmful than TiCl4at lower concentrations. The effects of TiCl4to crustaceans larvae in all exposure scenarios were lower compared to nTiO2(EC50(96h)=15mg/L - standard protocol). During toxicity testing, the absence of light generally lowered nTiO2effects while starvation increased the toxicity of both TiCl4and nTiO2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia-Mestre, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Minetto
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia-Mestre, Italy; Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cinthia ed. 7, 80126 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: giovanni.libralato@unina.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Libralato
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia-Mestre, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcomini
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172, Venezia-Mestre, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Volpi Ghirardini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001156:Artemia / Q000502:physiology; D017377:Diatoms / Q000502:physiology; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; C025096:titanium tetrachloride; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Crustacean larval test; Ecotoxicology; Lethal effects; Marine organisms; Microalgae growth; TiCl(4); nTiO(2)