The progressive increase in nanoparticles (NPs) applications and their potential release into the environment because the majority of them end up in the soil without proper care have drawn considerable attention to the public health, which has become an increasingly important area of research. It is required to understand ecological threats of NPs before applications. Once NPs are released into the environment, they are subjected to translocation and go through several modifications, such as bio/geo-transformation which plays a significant role in determination of ultimate fate in the environment. The interaction between plants and NPs is an important aspect of the risk assessment. The plants growing in a contaminated medium may significantly pose a threat to human health via the food chain. Metal oxide NPs ZnO and CuO, the most important NPs, are highly toxic to a wide range of organisms. Exposure and effects of CuO and ZnO NPs on soil biota and human health are critically discussed in this study. The potential benefits and unintentional dangers of NPs to the environment and human health are essential to evaluate and expected to produce less toxic and more degradable NPs to minimize the environmental risk in the future.

ZnO and CuO nanoparticles: a threat to soil organisms, plants, and human health.

The potential exposure and hazards of copper nanoparticles: A review.

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) use has exponentially increased in various applications (such as industrial catalyst, gas sensors, electronic materials, biomedicines, environmental remediation) due to their flexible properties, i.e. large surface area to volume ratio. These broad applications, however, have increased human exposure and thus the potential risk related to their short- and long-term toxicity. Their release in environment has drawn considerable attention which has become an eminent area of research and development. To understand the toxicological impact of CuO NPs, this review summarises the in-vitro and in-vivo toxicity of CuO NPs subjected to species (bacterial, algae, fish, rats, human cell lines) used for toxicological hazard assessment. The key factors that influence the toxicity of CuO NPs such as particle shape, size, surface functionalisation, time-dose interaction and animal and cell models are elaborated. The literature evidences that the CuO NPs exposure to the living systems results in reactive oxygen species generation, oxidative stress, inflammation, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and immunotoxicity. However, the physio-chemical characteristics of CuO NPs, concentration, mode of exposure, animal model and assessment characteristics are the main perspectives that define toxicology of CuO NPs.

https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1049/iet-nbt.2019.0176

Toxicity of copper oxide nanoparticles: a review study

Toxicity of copper oxide nanoparticles on spring barley (Hordeum sativum distichum).

Accumulation of nanoparticles in the soil-plant systems and their effects on human health

CuO nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) serve several important functions in human life, particularly in the fields of medicine, engineering, and technology. These nanoparticles have been utilized as catalysts, semiconductors, sensors, gaseous and solid ceramic pigments, and magnet rotatable devices. Further use for CuO-NPs has been employed in the pharmaceutical industry especially in the production of anti-microbial fabric treatments or prevention of infections caused by Escherichia coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Two key potential routes of exposure to CuO-NPs exist through inhalation and skin exposure. Toxicity of these nanoparticles has been reported in various studies; however, no study as of yet has investigated the complete cellular mechanisms involved in CuO-NPs toxicity on human cells. The aim of this study was to determine the cytotoxicity of CuO-NPs on human blood lymphocytes. Blood lymphocytes were obtained from healthy male subjects through the use of Ficoll polysaccharide subsequently by gradient centrifugation. The following parameters were assayed in blood lymphocytes after a 6-h incubation with different concentrations of CuO-NPs: cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, lipid peroxidation, cellular glutathione levels, and mitochondrial and lysosomal damage. Our results demonstrate that CuO-NPs, in particular, decreased cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner and the IC50 determined was 382 μM. CuO-NP cytotoxicity was associated with significant increase at intracellular ROS level and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and lysosomal membrane leakiness. Hence, CuO-NPs are shown to effectively induce oxidative stress in addition to inflict damage on mitochondria and lysosomes in human blood lymphocytes.

Toxicity of Copper Oxide (CuO) Nanoparticles on Human Blood Lymphocytes

Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) are used to a large extent in the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible toxicity of Fe2 O 3 NPs on human cells, including blood lymphocytes. We isolated blood lymphocytes from healthy humans using Ficoll polysaccharide and subsequently by gradient centrifugation. Then, the toxicity parameters, including cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, lipid peroxidation, cellular glutathione (GSH) level, mitochondrial and lysosomal damage, were measured in blood lymphocytes after exposure to Fe 2 O 3 NPs. Our results indicated that Fe 2 O 3 NPs significantly (dependent on concentration) reduced the cell viability, and the IC 50 was determined to be 1 mM. With increasing concentrations, we found that Fe 2 O 3 NPs-induced cell toxicity was associated with a significant increase in intracellular ROS and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and lysosomal membrane leakiness. Consequently, these NPs at different concentrations affect GSH level and cause oxidative stress in human lymphocytes.

Toxicity of Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles on human blood lymphocytes

The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes. The name Hamid Degampanah is corrected to "Hamid Dezhampanah". Affiliation 1 is corrected to University of Guilan from Guilan University.

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Evelyn Assadian

Papers

Toxicity of Copper Oxide (CuO) Nanoparticles on Human Blood Lymphocytes

Toxicity of Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles on human blood lymphocytes

Correction to: Toxicity of Copper Oxide (CuO) Nanoparticles on Human Blood Lymphocytes.