SiO2 Nanoparticles Suspension Exposures with Marine Invertebrates: Genotoxicity Response

The volume of nanoparticles (NPs) used in various sectors of human life is steadily increasing. Due to their unique properties, silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) are widely used in industrial production. However, their ecotoxicological effect on marine biota is extremely poorly understood. To highlight this problem, experiments were conducted with short-term SiO2 NPs exposure to the sand dollar Scaphechinus mirabilis sperm, and a 6-day exposure to the adult bivalve mollusk Mytilus trossulus. SiO2 NPs exposure caused an increase in the concentration of Si in the digestive gland of the mollusk, resulting in DNA damage increase. Exposure to all NPs concentrations caused DNA damage to increase but did not affect the sperm fertilization ability. It was found that the DNA is a target in both chronic and acute SiO2 NPs exposure.