Influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on enantioselective bioaccumulation and oxidative stress toxicity of indoxacarb in zebrafish(Danio rerio)

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used in various fields with the rapid development of nanotechnology. Pesticides have an irreplaceable role in agricultural production, which leads to their massive utilization and their inevitably penetrate into the aquatic environment. However, limited information is available regarding the impact of CNTs on the toxicity and enrichment of chiral compounds to organisms. Using zebrafish as a model to study whether the enantioselective bioaccumulation and oxidative stress of chiral pollutants may be altered in the presence of MWCNTs. Significant enantioselective bioaccumulation was observed in zebrafish with the preferential accumulation of R-(−)-indoxacarb during the 28-day bioaccumulation. The combined exposure of MWCNTs does not affect the enantioselectivity of zebrafish bioaccumulation, but increase the bioaccumulation amount of R-(−)-indoxacarb by 65%. Moreover, the average degradation half-life of indoxacarb enantiomers was 1.30 days. The indoxacarb causes oxidative stress toxicity in zebrafish liver and exhibited enantioselectivity, while the addition of MWCNTs did not significantly change the enantioselectivity of oxidative stress toxicity of indoxacarb, but enhanced the toxicity 20% with increased MWCNTs concentrations. This study suggests that the risk of the co-presence of nanomaterials and chiral pesticides in aquatic environments should be taken into consideration.