Embryonic exposure to selenium nanoparticles delays growth and hatching in the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Wei Liu; Yuying Chen; Xiaojing Leng; Serge Stoll

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136147

Embryonic exposure to selenium nanoparticles delays growth and hatching in the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Chemosphere. 2022 Nov;307(Pt 4):136147. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136147. Epub 2022 Aug 26.

Authors

Wei Liu¹, Yuying Chen², Xiaojing Leng², Serge Stoll³

Affiliations

¹ Department F.A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: wei.liu@unige.ch.
² Key Laboratory of Functional Dairy, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China.
³ Department F.A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Carl-Vogt 66, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 36037947
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136147

Abstract

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have been applied in the biomedical and biocidal domain which may have potential environmental risks for aquatic systems. However, the knowledge of its toxicity and the role of functionalization on aquatic invertebrates are scarce. Thus, the present study aimed to analyze the embryotoxicity of two types of SeNPs coated with Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-SeNPs) and Chitosan (CS-SeNPs) to the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis in lake water, focusing on embryonic development. The influence of surface coatings and ions release, on the embryonic development of SeNPs to freshwater snail L. stagnalis was investigated. For this end, the snails were exposed to different concentrations of SeNPs and Se ions (0.05-1 mg L^-1) during 7 days and multiple endpoints were analyzed, including developmental stage frequency, morphological alterations, embryos mortality and hatching success. The results showed that both Se forms promoted the developmental delay, mortality, morphological changes, and hatching inhibition in snail embryos in a concentration-dependent manner. CMC-SeNPs are 2.6 times more embryotoxic compared to CS-SeNPs indicating the importance of surface coating on the embryotoxicity. Moreover, the results revealed that although both forms of Se inhibited the embryo development and reduced the hatching of L. stagnalis, the mode of action on the embryogenesis was different. SeNPs had a higher toxicity to snails' embryos compared to their dissolved counterparts. Despite significant dissolution, by comparing the SeNPs with their dissolved fraction, the results suggest SeNPs inhibition effect on the snail development could be caused by both SeNPs and Se⁴⁺, and SeNPs might be the major development retardation driver rather than Se ions. The present study evidenced by the first time the toxicity effects of SeNPs on the snail embryogenesis, and highlighted how SeNPs intrinsic properties influence their transformation and toxicity in environmental relevant scenarios.

Keywords: Dissolution kinetic; Embryotoxicity; Lymnaea stagnalis; Selenium nanoparticles; Surface coating.

MeSH terms

Animals
Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium
Chitosan* / pharmacology
Fresh Water
Lymnaea
Nanoparticles* / toxicity
Selenium* / toxicity
Sodium
Water / pharmacology
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Water
Chitosan
Sodium
Selenium
Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium