Ecotoxicity of AgNPs according to the state of biota

Abstract

The work objective is to evaluate the ecotoxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) according to the state of the biota of Haplic Chernozems Calcic. Contamination of Haplic Chernozems Calcic with 10 nm AgNPs in concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 mg/kg was simulated in laboratory conditions. In this study, biodiagnostical methods were used to assess the ecotoxic effect of AgNPs on soil biota: the activity of catalase, dehydrogenases, invertase, phosphatase, urease, the total number of bacteria, the Azotobacter sp. abundance, germination, and length of radish roots. The response of soil biota to exposure to AgNPs was assessed by the difference between the values in contaminated and uncontaminated soil. It was found that the more silver nanoparticles were introduced into the soil, the stronger the ecotoxic effect on the biota. The highest sensitivity degree to contamination of Haplic Chernozems Calcic with AgNPs was recorded for the total number of bacteria. The critical value of the AgNPs content in Haplic Chernozems Calcic, which is 0.4 mg/kg has been developed.