Toxicity Assessment of Some Conventionally Manufactured Nanoparticles to Daphnia Magna

Background and purpose: Nanoparticles (NPs) are used in different industries, including electronics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, healthcare, and environmental processes. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate their toxicity in the aquatic environment. Materials and methods: The acute toxicity of six different kinds of nano-sized particulates (SiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, and MgO) to Daphnia Magna were evaluated using the acute toxicity test, according to the U.S EPA method at various exposure times in different concentrations. The LC50 values and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated using the EPA Probit analysis program. Results: The highest to lowest LC50 of mortality of the NPs studied were as follows: Al2O3>Fe2O3>SIO2>TiO2>MgO>ZnO. At 96 hours of exposure time, NPs caused morphological change in the gut tract of D. Magna. Conclusion: In this study, all physiochemical properties of the NPs were similar to those reported in previous studies. Among these properties, chemical composition and purity of NPs are the major factors that could influence the toxicity of NPs to D.Magna.