The emergence of nanomaterials in industrial processing and consumer products has generated an increased presence of nano-enabled products in the environment and now pose an increased risk of exposure to living organisms. However, assessing the risks of nanomaterials is a challenging task because of a large variety and great variability in their properties. Here, we describe a methodology for assessing toxicity and evaluate potential risks posed by nanomaterials using zebrafish embryos as a model organism. Zebrafish are a well-established organism that has a number of advantages over other biological models. These include optical transparency, similar structure and arrangement of organs, and conserved genetic pathways compared to other vertebrates. Their rapid development and high numbers of embryos enables high throughput screening to study toxicity of a large number of nanomaterials. The method described in this chapter can be used as a universal screening approach to assess toxicity of any type of nanomaterials, determine both lethal and sublethal effects, measure LD50 doses, evaluate morphological and organ defects, cell apoptosis, and production of reactive species.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Histology; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nanotoxicity; Oxidative stress; Viability assay; Zebrafish embryos.