Abstract
The widespread use of commercial silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) inevitably results in their increasing release into natural waters and potentially threaten the freshwater ecosystems. During their migration, Ag NPs would interact with suspended sediments (SPS) and negatively affect the microbial communities on SPS, which play an important role in the nutrient cycling in aquatic environments. However, there is limited research focusing on the potential effects of Ag NPs on nitrogen cycling in SPS. In this study,15N isotope tracer technique (added15NH4+) was adopted to explore the influences of different concentrations of Ag NPs on coupled nitrification-denitrification (CND) in SPS systems by determining the variation of added NH4+ and the final production of CND (15N-N2). The obtained results indicated that 10 and 5 mg/L Ag NPs inhibited the15N-N2 production of CND by decreasing the utilization of NH4+ in SPS, while 0.5 and 2 mg/L Ag NPs increased the activity of CND in SPS due to the hormesis effects. The study demonstrated the negative effects of Ag NPs on N-cycling in SPS systems and provided more evidences for evaluating the risks of Ag NPs in aquatic ecosystems.
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