Developing species sensitivity distributions for metallic nanomaterials considering the characteristics of nanomaterials, experimental conditions, and different types of endpoints

A species sensitivity distribution (SSD) for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) ranks the tested species according to their sensitivity to a certain ENM. An SSD may be used to estimate the maximum acceptable concentrations of ENMs for the purpose of environmental risk assessment. To construct SSDs for metal-based ENMs, more than 1800 laboratory derived toxicity records of metallic ENMs from >300 publications or open access scientific reports were retrieved. SSDs were developed for the metallic ENMs grouped by surface coating, size, shape, exposure duration, light exposure, and different toxicity endpoints. It was found that PVP- and sodium citrate- coatings enhance the toxicity of Ag ENMs as concluded from the relevant SSDs. For the Ag ENMs with different size ranges, differences in behavior and/or effect were only observed at high exposure concentrations. The SSDs of Ag ENMs separated by both shape and exposure duration were all nearly identical. Crustaceans were found to be the most vulnerable group to metallic ENMs. In spite of the uncertainties of the results caused by limited data quality and availability, the present study provided novel information about building SSDs for distinguished ENMs and contributes to the further development of SSDs for metal-based ENMs. •SSDs of Ag, CeO2, CuO, TiO2, and ZnO ENMs were developed based on the toxicity endpoints of LC50, EC50, LOEC, and NOEC.•Data scarcity is one of the major challenges in developing SSDs.•Data was only sufficient for Ag ENMs to develop SSDs grouped by surface coating, size, shape, and exposure duration.•PVP- and sodium citrate- coatings enhance the toxicity of Ag ENMs.•Crustaceans are the most susceptible group to metallic ENMs.