Toxicity of Nanoscaled Zero-Valent Iron Particles on Tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus

Arivarasan Vishnu Kirthi; Gaurav Kumar; Gaurav Pant; Manu Pant; Kaizar Hossain; Akil Ahmad; Mohammed B Alshammari

doi:10.1021/acsomega.2c05696

Toxicity of Nanoscaled Zero-Valent Iron Particles on Tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus

ACS Omega. 2022 Dec 12;7(51):47869-47879. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c05696. eCollection 2022 Dec 27.

Authors

Arivarasan Vishnu Kirthi¹, Gaurav Kumar¹, Gaurav Pant², Manu Pant², Kaizar Hossain³, Akil Ahmad⁴, Mohammed B Alshammari⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, Punjab, India.
² Department of Life Sciences, Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Dehradun 248002, Uttarakhand, India.
³ Department of Environmental Science, Asutosh College, University of Calcutta, 92, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rd, Bhowanipore, Kolkata 700026, West Bengal, India.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

This research effort aims to evaluate the hazardous potential of the redox state (OH^-) of zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) and its histopathological and oxidative stress toward Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) validated the nZVI nanoparticles' chemical composition, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that their physical form is round and oval. The exposure to 10 g/mL of nZVI induced the activation of the cellular superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Dose-dependent testing of O. mossambicus had a reduction in SOD and an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, suggesting that nZVI caused oxidative damage. At a concentration of 100 g/mL, the catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities of diverse tissues exhibited a gradual decrease after 2 days of exposure and a fast increase until day 6. The scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the epidermis, liver, and gills of O. mossambicus deteriorated and accumulated gradually. MDA levels in the skin, gill, and liver tissues were substantially higher after 8 days of exposure to 100 and 200 g/mL nZVI compared to those of the control group and those exposed to 10 and 50 g/mL nZVI for 2 days. Extreme histological and morphological abnormalities were seen in the skin, gill, and liver tissues of experimental animals, demonstrating that the damage resulted from direct contact with nZVI in water. A one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's post-test was performed to investigate significant differences.