Nanoparticle interactions with co-existing contaminants: joint toxicity, bioaccumulation and risk

Abstract

With their growing production and application, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly discharged into the environment. The released NPs can potentially interact with pre-existing contaminants, leading to biological effects (bioaccumulation and/or toxicity) that are poorly understood. Most studies on NPs focus on single analyte exposure; the existing literature on joint toxicity of NPs and co-existing contaminants is rather limited but beginning to develop rapidly. This is the first review paper evaluating the current state of knowledge regarding the joint effects of NPs and co-contaminants. Here, we review: (1) methods for investigating and evaluating joint effects of NPs and co-contaminants; (2) simultaneous toxicities from NPs co-exposed with organic contaminants, metal/metalloid ions, dissolved organic matter (DOM), inorganic ligands and additional NPs; and (3) the influence of NPs co-exposure on the bioaccumulation of organic contaminants and heavy metal ions, as well as the influence of contaminants on NPs bioaccumulation. In addition, future research needs are discussed so as to better understand risk associated with NPs-contaminant co-exposure.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Nanomaterial
• organic contaminants
• heavy metals
• biological effect
• combined toxicity

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the 973 program of China (2014CB441104), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0207003) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21525728, 21621005, 21337004, 21477107 and 41629101). JCW acknowledges USDA-AFRI (2011-67006-30181). J.L. Gardea-Torresdey acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Cooperative Agreement DBI-1266377. Any opinions, findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He also acknowledges the NIMHD grant 2G12MD007592, the USDA grant 2016-67021-24985, and the NSF Grants CHE-0840525 and DBI-1429708. Partial funding was provided by the NSF/ERC on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (EEC-1449500).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.