Absorption of Semiconductor Nanocrystals by the Aquatic Invertebrate Ceriodaphnia dubia

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 81; no. 3; pp. 249 - 252
• Main Authors: Ingle, Taylor M, Alexander, Regina, Bouldin, Jennifer, Buchanan, Roger A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York New York : Springer-Verlag 01-09-2008; Springer-Verlag; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Absorption; Animals; Aquatic environment; Aquatic life; Aquatic organisms; Aquatic Pollution; Cadmium; Ceriodaphnia dubia; Cladocera - anatomy & histology; Cladocera - drug effects; Cladocera - metabolism; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Fluorescence; Invertebrata; Invertebrates; Nanocrystals; Pollution; Quantum Dots; Selenium; Semiconductors; Soil Science & Conservation; Sorption; Toxicology; Waste Water Technology; Water hardness; Water Management; Water Pollutants - metabolism; Water Pollutants - toxicity; Water Pollution Control; Nanoparticles; Nanocrystals; Absorption; Quantum dots
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-008-9481-y

When incubated with nanomolar concentrations of fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals in moderately hard water the fluorescence of living Ceriodaphnia dubia increased. Average pixel intensity of exposed animals was greater than that of unexposed animals and increased in a dose and exposure time-dependent-manner. Internal structures were clearly visible in exposed and unexposed animals but fluorescence was most intense in the region of the abdominal appendages of exposed animals. Since these nanoparticles contain significant quantities of the toxic metals cadmium and selenium, their accumulation from aquatic environments by this standard test organism has significant implications about their potential environmental toxicity.