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2020

Sammendrag

Remediation using nanoparticles depends on proper documentation of safety aspects, one of which is their ecotoxicology. Ecotoxicology of nanoparticles has some special features: while traditional ecotoxicology aims at measuring possible negative effects of more or less soluble chemicals or dissolved elements, nanoecotoxicology aims at measuring the toxicity of particles, and its main focus is on effects that are unique to nano-sized particles, as compared to larger particles or solutes. One of the main challenges when testing the ecotoxicity of nanoparticles lies in maintaining stable and reproducible exposure conditions, and adapt these to selected test organisms and endpoints. Another challenge is to use test media that are relevant to the matrices to be treated. Testing of nanoparticles used for remediation, particularly red-ox-active Fe-based nanoparticles, should also make sure to exclude confounding effects of altered red-ox potential which are not nanoparticle-specific. Yet another unique aspect of nanoparticles used for remediation is considerations of ageing of nanoparticles in soil or water, leading to reduced toxicity over field-relevant time scales. This review discusses these and other aspects of how to design and interpret appropriate tests and use these in hazard descriptions for subsequent risk assessments.

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Sammendrag

Heavy metals in soil pose a constant risk for animals and humans when entering their food chains, and limited means are available to reduce plant accumulation from more or less polluted soils. Biochar, which is made by pyrolysis of organic residues and sees increasing use as a soil amendment to mitigate anthropogenic C emissions and improve agronomic soil properties, has also been shown to reduce plant availability of heavy metals in soils. The cause for the reduction of metal uptake in plants when grown in soils enriched with biochar has generally been researched in terms of increased pH and alkalinity, while other potential mechanisms have been less studied. We conducted a pot experiment with barley using three soils differing in metal content and amended or not with 2% biochar made from Miscanthus x giganteus, and assessed plant contents and changes in bioavailability in bulk and rhizosphere soil by measuring extractability in acetic acid or ammonium nitrate. In spite of negligible pH changes upon biochar amendment, the results showed that biochar reduced extractability of Cu, Pb and Zn, but not of Cd. Rhizosphere soil contained more easily extractable Cu, Pb and Zn than bulk soil, while for Cd it did not. Generally, reduced plant uptake due to biochar was reflected in the amounts of metals extractable with ammonium nitrate, but not acetic acid.

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Sammendrag

It is commonly known that the pretreatment of complex substrates yields higher biogas production in anaerobic digestion (AD) by improving hydrolysis. However, it is still questioned whether all solubilized fractions after pretreatment can be used for CH4 production during AD. In this study, the relationship between increased solubilization and AD efficiency in response to different pretreatment conditions of lipid-extracted microalgae waste (LEMW) was investigated. The individual pretreatment (acid and ultrasonic) and combined pretreatment were applied to assess the solubilization of LEMW. A biochemical methane potential (BMP) test was subsequently performed to determine the AD efficiency. Combined pretreatment of LEMW (60 min of irradiation + pH 1) showed the highest performance, achieving CH4 production of 1245 ± 28 mL CH4/L with increased solubilization of 50.4%. However, it was found that increased solubilization did not proportionally increase CH4 productivity. The assessment of the origin of produced CH4 through biomass fractionation supports this finding in that the soluble fraction that does not contribute to CH4 production increased at more severe pretreatment conditions.

Sammendrag

The majority of nanomaterials (NMs) used in commercial applications are likely to enter the wastewater stream and reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Studies have shown high association of NMs with sewage sludge therefore soils can be a sink for NM pollution making terrestrial organisms vulnerable. NMs undergo transformations in different environmental matrices leading to altered behaviour, bioavailability and subsequent toxicity that can differ from the pristinepristine material. The NM transformation and the potential hazard they pose in these compartments are poorly understood. The aim of the study was to elucidate (i) the behaviour of Ag and TiO2 NMs in sewage sludge and sludge amended-soil and (ii) the subsequent effects of transformed NMs on the coelomocytes of the earthworm E. fetida.Spherical polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs, 25 nm) and uncoated TiO2 NPs (anatase, 5 nm primary size, NM-101,JRC) were used in this study. Two types of sludge were used for the exposures, one from a municipal WWTP (Oslo, Norway), and another from a lab-scale WWTP simulating biological wastewater treatment processes continuously dosed during 5 weeks with well-characterised Ag and TiO2 NPs. Earthworms (adults E. fetida) were exposed to LUFA 2.2 soil amended with sewage sludge at two application rates: 20 t ha-1 (maximum recommended application rate in Europe), and 3 times this application rate, i.e. 60 t ha-1 (worst-case scenario). After 12 and 39 days, coelomocytes were isolated from exposed earthworms, and effects on cell population, metabolic activity, lysosomal integrity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation were assessed. Characterization of NMs in the sludge amended-soil and soil elutriates, in whole earthworms and coelomocytes isolated from exposed earthworms, was carried out at the beginning (day 0), during (day 12) and the end (day 39) of the exposure period, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and single-particle (sp)-ICP-MS. Dose and exposure time-dependent effects were observed, with an alteration in the cell composition of coelomocytes, increase in ROS formation and decrease in lysosomal membrane integrity being more pronounced at the highest exposure concentration. The importance of taking NM transformation into account and the sensitivity of the E. fetida coelomocytes as a model to study the effects of transformed NMs in vitro are discussed.

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Sammendrag

The current study provides an in vivo analysis of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans following exposure to EU reference silver nanoparticles NM300K and AgNO3. Induction of antioxidant defenses was measured through the application of a SOD-1 reporter, and the HyPer and GRX biosensor strains to monitor changes in the cellular redox state. Both forms of Ag resulted in an increase in sod-1 expression, elevated H2O2 levels and an imbalance in the cellular GSSG/GSH redox status. Microscopy analysis of the strains revealed that AgNO3 induced ROS-related effects in multiple tissues, including the pharynx, intestinal cells and muscle tissues. In contrast, NM300K resulted in localized ROS production and oxidative stress, specifically in tissues surrounding the intestinal lumen. This indicates that Ag from AgNO3 exposure was readily transported across the whole body, while Ag or ROS from NM300K exposure was predominantly confined within the luminal tissues. Concentrations resulting in an increase in ROS production and changes in GSSG/GSH ratio were in line with the levels associated with observed physiological toxic effects. However, sod-1 was not induced at the lowest Ag concentrations, although reprotoxicity was seen at these levels. While both forms of Ag caused oxidative stress, impaired development, and reprotoxicity, the results suggest different involvement of ROS production to the toxic effects of AgNO3 versus NM300K.