Interaction of Copper-Based Nanoparticles to Soil, Terrestrial, and Aquatic Systems: Critical Review of the State of the Science and Future Perspectives

In the past two decades, increased production and usage of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) has inevitably increased their discharge into the different compartments of the environment, which ultimately paved the way for their uptake and accumulation in various trophic levels of the food chain. Due to these issues, several questions have been raised on the usage of NPs in everyday life and has become a matter of public health concern. Among the metallic NPs, Cu-based NPs have gained popularity due to their cost-effectiveness and multifarious promising uses. Several studies in the past represented the phytotoxicity of Cu-based NPs on plants. However, comprehensive knowledge is still lacking. Additionally, the impact of Cu-based NPs on soil organisms such as agriculturally important microbes, fungi, mycorrhiza, nematode, and earthworms are poorly studied. This review article critically analyses the literature data to achieve a more comprehensive knowledge on the toxicological profile of Cu-based NPs and increase our understanding of the effects of Cu-based NPs on aquatic and terrestrial plants as well as on soil microbial communities. The underlying mechanism of biotransformation of Cu-based NPs and the process of their penetration into plants has also been discussed herein. Overall, this review could provide valuable information to design rules and regulations for the safe disposal of Cu-based NPs into a sustainable environment

Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Increase Tissue Ti Concentration and Activate Antioxidants in Solanum lycopersicum L.

This work was aimed at characterizing the effects of foliarly applied rutile (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) on Ti translocation as well as biomass production and antioxidant system in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The seeds were germinated and grown on a substrate in individual pots in a growth chamber. The TiO2 NPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and laser doppler velocimetry (LDV). Titanium dioxide NPs had a rod-shaped form and were moderately prone to agglomeration. The TiO2 NPs treatments were applied at 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 mg L-1 by foliar spraying on 20-day-old S. lycopersicum plants. After 7 days of treatment exposure, tissue Ti concentration was determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Nanoparticle treatments increased tissue Ti concentration; Ti was translocated from leaves to stem, triggering a significant decrease in biomass production. With respect to the control, an increase in total reducing capacity (1.7-fold), antioxidant activity (1.5-fold), and superoxide dismutase activity (2-fold) were observed in the treatments with intermediate to high doses. The TiO2 NPs triggered an increase in tissue Ti concentration, increasing the antioxidant system activity and lipid peroxidation at low to intermediate doses, and decreasing biomass production at intermediate to high doses

Physiological and agronomical traits effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in seedlings of Solanum lycopersicum L

Abstract Background Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) have been reported to have contrasting effects on plant physiology, while their effects on sugar, protein, and amino acid metabolism are poorly understood. In this work, we evaluated the effects of TiO2 NPs on physiological and agronomical traits of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings. Tomato seeds were treated with TiO2 NPs (1000 and 2000 mg L− 1), TiO2 microparticles (µPs, 2000 mg L− 1) as the size control, and ultrapure water as negative control. Results The dry matter of stems (DMs), leaves (DMl) and total dry matter (DMt) decreased as particle concentration increased. This trend was also observed in the maximum quantum yield of light-adapted photosystem II (PSII) (Fv´/Fm´), the effective quantum yield of PSII (ΦPSII), and net photosynthesis (Pn). The concentrations of sugars, total soluble proteins, and total free amino acids were unaffected, but there were differences in the daily dynamics of these compounds among the treatments. Conclusion Our results suggest that treating tomato seeds with TiO2 might affect PSII performance, net photosynthesis and decrease biomass production, associated with a concentration- and size-related effect of TiO2 particles

Additional file 1 of Physiological and agronomical traits effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in seedlings of Solanum lycopersicum L

Supplementary Material