Environmental toxicity study using invertebrates and plants against PbO nanoparticles prepared in biological synthesis using Farfarae folium extract

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, we developed and used research methods that will make it possible to quickly assess the toxic activity of, among others, metal nanoparticles. In this work, we assessed the toxicity of PbO nanoparticles obtained from biological synthesis using Farfarae folium. The obtained PbO nanoparticles were characterized with the use of such methods as UV–VIS, XRD, SEM with EDS, AFM and FTIR. The techniques applied in the work confirmed the presence of 30–40 nm PbO nanoparticles. The toxic properties of biologically synthesized nanoparticles were assessed with the use of plants and invertebrates. The phytotoxicity studies were conducted on the following plant seeds: radish, garden cress, bean, rape, chia, lupine, corn, and beetroot. The IC50 coefficient was calculated on the basis of the logarithmic relationship Aw = a*ln(C) + b. The studies also used the following invertebrates: Daphnia pulex, Tubifex tubifex, Chaoborus sp. (larva), Chironomus aprilinus, Artemia sp. The EC50 coefficient was calculated after the incubation period. For PbO nanoparticles, we managed to identify the IC50 coefficient for selected plants. It was, respectively, 0.150 mg/ml for lupine; 0.274 mg/ml for bean; and 0.655 mg/ml for radish. As regards the studies on invertebrates, it was observed that the most sensitive organisms were Daphnia pulex (EC50 = 0.32 mg/ml) and Tubifex tubifex (EC50 = 0.38 mg/ml), and the most resistant one was Chironomus aprilinus (EC50 = 0.83 mg/ml).