Indeed, silver nanoparticles were found to be ten times less toxic than the soluble silver nitrate a soluble silver salt used for the comparison.
The bioavailability of silver varies in different test media
To explain this phenomenon, the researchers refer to the variance in the bioavailability of silver to crustaceans in different tested media.
University lecturer Olli-Pekka Penttinen from the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki goes on to note that the inorganic and organic compounds dissolved in natural waters (such as humus), water hardness and sulfides have a definite impact on the bioavailability of silver. Due to this, the toxicity of both types of tested nanoparticles and the silver nitrate measured in the course of the study was lower in natural water than in artificial fresh water.
The toxicity of silver nanoparticles and silver ions was studied using two aquatic crustaceans, a water flea (Daphnia magna) and a fairy shrimp (Thamnocephalus platyurus). Commercially available protein-stabilised particles and particles coated with a water-soluble, non-toxic polymer, specifically synthesised for the purpose, were used in the study. First, the polymers were produced utilising a controlled radical polymerisation method. Synthetic polymer-grafted silver particles were then produced by attaching the water-soluble polymer to the surface of the silver with a sulfur bond.
Jukka Niskanen has utilised such polymerisation and coupling reactions in his doctoral dissertation, Polymeric and hybrid materials: polymers on particle surfaces and air-water interfaces, studying several hybrid nanomaterials, i.e., combinations of synthetic polymers and inorganic (gold, silver and montmorillonite) nanoparticles. Niskanen will defend h
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| Contact: Jukka Niskanen jukka.niskanen@helsinki.fi University of Helsinki Source:Eurekalert |