Toxicity of metal-based nanomaterials in different organisms

Abstract

Metal-based nanomaterials (MNMs) possess exceptional properties that have led to their widespread use in various fields, including medicine, energy, electronics, and agriculture. However, this increased utilization of MNMs also raises concerns about their potential release into environmental compartments, such as soil, water bodies, and the atmosphere, which could adversely affect the environmental system and living organisms. Hence, it is crucial to investigate the environmental risks associated with MNMs. This review comprehensively discusses the adverse effects of MNMs at different levels, including organismal, tissue, metabolic, molecular, and genetic levels. Additionally, it offers a holistic perspective on their overall impact. Specifically, biological models are categorized based on the environmental medium, and the effects of MNMs on tissues, organs, growth, development, and reproduction of individual biological models are summarized. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying the toxicity of different MNMs toward biological models are also discussed. By doing so, this review provides a comprehensive and system-level understanding of nanotoxicity.

Keywords:

• Metal-based nanomaterials
• environmental safety
• biological model
• toxicity
• underlying mechanisms

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFD0801300, 2017YFD0801103); EU H2020 project NanoSolveIT (Grant Agreement 814572); RiskGone (Grant Agreement 814425), and NanoCommons (Grant Agreement 731032); Professor workstation in Yuhuangmiao Town, Shanghe County, China Agricultural University and Professor workstation in Sunji Town, Shanghe County, China Agricultural University. Funding support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement (754340) and Royal Society International Exchange Programs (1853690 and 2122860) is also acknowledged.